Dems to push priorities despite tight fiscal outlook

Editor’s note: This article is the fourth and final in a series previewing some of the issues facing the 2017 Montana Legislature. Legislators convene Jan. 2 in Helena.

By SAM WILSON

Daily Inter Lake

When Montana’s lawmakers convene in Helena for the 65th Legislature next month, sharp differences in the two parties’ biennial budget priorities appear likely to take center stage. Republicans are preparing for substantial funding cuts in response to a drop in state tax collections, while Democrats will look to defend existing programs’ budgets and push several new initiatives.

Montanans once more elected a divided state government on Nov. 8, giving Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock a second term while maintaining sizable Republican majorities in both legislative chambers. The GOP still holds its 59-41 majority in the House and expanded its command of the Senate to 32-18.

The governor released his proposed budget shortly after his re-election, calling for a 1.4 percent spending increase over the current biennial budget period, including increases in public education funding and a toned-down version of his pre-kindergarten proposal that was rejected by the Legislature in 2015.

Bullock’s spending initiatives would in part be paid for by a tax increase on those making more than $500,000, “sin tax” increases and diverting money coal tax revenues.

However, it has also attracted criticism from Republicans for expanding some government programs after this year’s state revenues came in lower than expected.

Incoming Senate President Pro Tem Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, echoed many of his colleagues by dismissing much of Bullock’s budget as full of “political traps” and unrealistic proposals.

“It’s disappointing, but we’re going down there to try to build a budget in lean times, and that’s when I excel,” Keenan said. “I don’t like it when there’s a lot of money hanging around and everybody wants it.”

Keenan and Sen. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell, have both said they believe some of Bullock’s proposed cuts, including a 10 percent drop in Montana Highway Patrol funding, are designed to push Republicans to propose a gas-tax increase. A 10-cent increase has been endorsed by the Montana Infrastructure Coalition, although the proposal has yet to win the support of either party’s leadership.

Democrats point to November forecasts indicating a rebound in tax collections as wages and natural resource prices rise. The Associated Press in November reported that predictions from both the governor’s budget office and the Legislative Fiscal Division indicate a modest increase in state revenue over the next two years.

Jenny Eck, D-Helena, will be the House Minority Leader during the 2017 session. She cited Bullock’s goal of a $300 million state surplus, both in 2015 and in his current budget proposal, as a cornerstone of their party’s record of fiscal responsibility.

“We would not be in the black right now if it wasn’t for the governor’s foresight and the vision of the Democrats,” she said. “I think if we look at what the governor is proposing and keep an open mind ... we’re going to have to have to make some sacrifices, but figure out how to do that in a way that’s responsible.”

In addition to funding the state’s infrastructure needs, she listed equal-pay legislation, state-paid family leave, suicide prevention and programs for job training and workforce development among her party’s top priorities.

Within the Republican stronghold of Northwest Montana, Democrats were able to hold on to their two House seats following the November elections. Incoming freshman Rep. David Fern, a Whitefish Democrat and until recently a long-time school board member in his district, said he supports the governor’s proposal to broaden public education to pre-kindergarten.

The $12 million education program has already emerged as a target for Republican lawmakers, however, and Fern acknowledged the difficulty of implementing new programs as the majority GOP eyes budget cuts.

“I think some of it is maybe just playing a bit of defense in making sure programs that have a record of success are kept intact,” Fern said.

He also hopes to work toward reforming the state’s property-tax codes and said he’s open to a “modest increase” in Montana’s 27-cent gas tax.

The other Democrat from the Flathead, second-term Columbia Falls Rep. Zac Perry, offered a blunter prediction on preschool education, particularly as other programs vie for scarce funding from the state.

“With the budget the way it is, that’s not going to be a realistic endeavor,” he said. “I wish it was, but not with the way the budget is sitting.”

After Columbia Falls’ largest employer, Weyerhaeuser, dealt a devastating blow to the city’s economy with the closure of two of its mills, Perry said he’ll be focusing on measures to help attract new businesses. Included in his goals is “chipping away at the business equipment tax,” a policy that enjoys broad support among state Republicans.

Attempts by the Daily Inter Lake to reach Bullock for comment were unsuccessful, but Eck noted that Democrats are likely to pursue several other incentive programs to attract businesses to the state. Among them, she said, are proposals to incentivize Montana businesses to expand operations and temporary property-tax waivers for new start-ups.

Guiding their agenda over the Legislature’s procedural hurdles could prove trickier for Democrats in 2017 than in the previous session, however.

In the opening days of the 2015 Legislature, House Democrats allied with some Republicans to add a “silver bullet” option to the legislative rules. The rule change allowed a simple majority of 51 representatives to bring a limited number of bills before the full House for a vote, after they had been tabled by a committee. Known as a “blast motion,” the committee override to allow consideration of a tabled bill ordinarily requires a super-majority of 60 House members.

Democrats were able to use those silver bullets to advance several major policy initiatives opposed by GOP leaders last year, including Medicaid expansion, the water compact for the Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Disclose Act or “dark money” bill.

To avoid a replay of that scenario, House Republicans reached a compromise last month to allow the party’s centrist wing to bring up to five bills to the floor without committee approval.

House Majority Leader Ron Ehli, R-Hamilton, said in an interview that he hopes the “handshake agreement” will bring more unity within his caucus.

“The discussion is just to work with any legislator on some policy decisions that they want to get out of committee,” Ehli said. “In other words, leadership isn’t going to bury anything in committee and will help get some stuff out on the floor for debate.”

No specific measures have been identified as likely candidates for the procedural move, but he said the GOP leadership planned to honor the agreement without formally incorporating it into the legislative rules.

“By throwing that stuff in the rules right off the bat, it just drives a wedge in that ability to communicate,” Ehli said.

Eck said her caucus will continue to push for rule changes allowing a simple majority vote to bring any bill to the floor, although Republicans argue the current requirement keeps floor proceedings from getting bogged down during the fast-paced session.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.