Legislative Notes
Montanans’ tax dollars should not fund local lobbying at legislature
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Sen. Greg Hertz
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Millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent during my short time in the legislature to hire lobbyists that represent schools and local governments – all funded by Montana taxpayers. Time and time again, these lobbyists and organizations come into legislative hearings and oppose bills that restrict their spending or empower taxpayers to make such decisions.
For example, these taxpayer-funded lobbyists attempted to derail two of my bills, Senate Bills 204 and 205. During their hearings, each bill faced more than 40 opponents, 80% of which were lobbyists funded by your tax dollars.
SB 204 allows taxpayers to vote on levies in their districts every 10 years. Priorities change over the course of a decade, so taxpayers should have the power to look at levies and determine whether they want to continue them. The bill excludes bond levies, which must last the full duration of the bond term.
SB 205 raises the voter turnout threshold to pass levies. Under the bill, levies would require 60% approval if voter turnout is less than 50% but require a simple majority if turnout is greater than 50%. Currently, the majority of a minority of voters have been levying taxes on their neighbors. It’s time to give voters more control over their tax dollars.
Housing is another big issue across Montana. However, as we bring bills to help reduce the cost of building houses and apartments, lobbyists representing local governments show up to try to stop these bills. They claim that such legislation is reducing local control, but local control is one of the reasons we have a housing shortage, in large part due to zoning restrictions that limit multifamily housing, lot sizes, and mobile homes, excessive parking requirements, and certain building requirements that increase the cost of housing.
In response to the unseemly practice of local governments using tax dollars to lobby against those taxpayers’ interests, I have introduced SB 254 to stop local lobbying on the taxpayer’s dime. I suspect lobbyists, local governments, and schools will vehemently oppose the bill, without, of course, checking with the taxpayers paying for their efforts.
I encourage everyone to reach out to your legislators and let them know it’s time to stop funding lobbyists using taxpayer money. The hearing on SB 254 is set for Wednesday, February 26 in the Senate State Administration Committee. You can find more information on how to participate in the legislative process, including hearing and correspondence information, on the Montana Legislature’s website, legmt.gov.
Senator Greg Hertz, R-Polson, chairs the Senate Tax Committee
