House tackles budget, financial issues
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As the legislature heads into the final weeks, most of the final bills are being heard and acted upon. In the education committee, we passed through bills that gave some teeth to truancy laws so schools have authority to enforce attendance for students. It is tough to educate students when they are not in school. SB 112, or the Concussion Bill, which is intended to protect young athletes from returning to action to soon at sporting events, had overwhelming support. A couple of other education-related bills I was asked to carry onto the House floor include SB 191, which helps to keep special needs students in their home school district and receive the services they need, and SB 348, which will help improve school safety.
SB 175 is the main school funding bill and impacts every school district in the state. I carried this bill to the House floor Monday morning. Senator Jones’ bill started at about $100 million per year of new funding and is now down to $21 million per year. I expect there will be amendment attempts to add money back into this bill. Every education organization, along with all of the state’s public schools, is supporting this bill. Some highlights of this bill include a “data task force” that would look at the data from testing and everyday attendance. There are payments built in for that would allow a school with new enrollment over 4 percent to get immediate financial relief. This would also allow oil and gas bonding authority for impacted schools districts.
Two bills about liquid drinks provided lots of discussion, some pretty entertaining. A bill that would tie the amount of sales that a small brewery could run through its sample room to its production was tabled. I hope the Tavern Association and the small breweries can reach a solution to this problem. Another bill to allow raw milk to be sold in Montana is probably coming back to the House this week. The public has shown a real interest in raw milk, and we have tried very hard to alleviate the Department of Livestock’s concerns about public safety.
The big money items are up this week – budget, school funding, pay raises, Medicaid expansion, pension reform and tax relief. The pieces are starting to get fit back into the master puzzle. If you have any concerns or comments, please direct them to me at dansalomon12@gmail.com.
