Get ready for legislative rumble
Once every two years, whether we like it or not, the Legislature gathers together in Helena to try to improve the lives of Montanans.
Lord knows, they try. But it seems there is always a split decision on whether or not they have succeeded in that lofty goal. Call it partisan politics or call it democracy in action, but the fact remains that we will not all agree on either the priorities or the accomplishments of the Legislature.
The 64th biennial session of the Montana Legislature kicks off Monday and will continue for 90 days into April. That will be plenty of time for significant legislation to be passed as well as for the usual mischief and mayhem.
Adding fireworks this year will be the split between Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and a Republican-dominated House and Senate. Bullock hasn’t shown much inclination to compromise in his first two years in office, and yet the GOP majority is not veto-proof, so we may wind up with lots of important legislation either stuck in committee or sidelined by the governor.
Top candidate to not get resolved to anyone’s satisfaction is the fight over Medicaid expansion. This is a carryover from the 2013 Legislature. Democrats want the state to expand Medicaid eligibility to 70,000 additional residents in order to qualify for federal money that is available as seed money for the program. Republicans have been hesitant to approve the changes because the federal money is expected to disappear soon, leaving the state with a new multimillion-dollar entitlement.
Republicans have offered a scaled-down alternative to assist the most desperate Montanans, but this would not give the state access to those federal funds, and very likely would not meet the governor’s expectations.
You can also expect a big fight over the governor’s proposal to spend $37 million on preschool for 4-year-olds. The Obama administration ponied up a $10 million grant for that project, too, but fiscally conservative Republicans are again likely to balk at creating a new continuing commitment.
Other issues will be familiar to anyone who has followed state politics for the past decade or two. Should municipalities have the opportunity to levy sales taxes in order to lessen the burden on property-tax payers? Should property taxes be made more fair through some kind of restructuring of rates or schedules? Should the entire state absorb part of the cost for Eastern Montana’s infrastructure burden caused by the oil boom?
And much more.
It promises to be a contentious session in many ways, and neither side will get everything it wants. But that’s nothing new, and ultimately we should judge our legislators and governor not so much on what they accomplished, but more on their integrity in faithfully representing the wishes of the electorate as they understand them.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.