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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

State Budget Work Could Begin Wednesday

Republican State Representative LLew Jones.

The chairs of the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance and Claims expect Wednesday is the earliest day the joint conference committee will meet to begin work on hammering out the differences over the state budget.

House Bill 2 is the main state budget bill for the coming two year budget period that begins July first.

Senate Finance chair Llew Jones will chair the conference committee. The Republican from Conrad says lawmakers are talking with officials from the Bullock Administration on ways to put the final pieces together.

"Nothing is broken yet," said Jones. "We have possibilities everywhere."

Jones says he would like to reach a tentative agreement between the parties before the conference committee meets and officially convenes to work on House Bill 2. He says the goal is to put together an acceptable product.

"Trying to work through the concepts of what might be a product that would garner the needed muster to allow everyone to go home with a win-win," said Jones.

Jones says there is the possibility a state employee pay plan may be part of the final product. He says there’s angst about the state health insurance portion.

Another issue that’s also part of the House Bill 2 discussions is a bill to fund infrastructure projects around the state.

Senate Bill 416 is the last major infrastructure bill left standing after ones proposed by the Bullock Administration and the Speaker of the House are probably dead.

The bill currently is awaiting a vote in the House Appropriations Committee. Chair Nancy Ballance says for

Rep. Nancy Ballance (R) HD87
Credit Montana Legislature
Representative Nancy Ballance (R) HD 87

   now the committee is waiting to see if it has the necessary votes to pass on the House floor. The sticking point is this bill contains a bonding component.

"Bonding requires a 67 vote," said Ballance. "So you have to have 67 people who really think it’s a good idea over here. And as you know bonding is always difficult on the House side. Always difficult. So that’s going to be the deciding part is what is bonded, how much is bonded, how much cash do you have."

Senate Bill 416 contains several proposed projects. This includes renovation projects for the Montana University System and some Yellowstone County lawmakers are trying to get money in to help the city of Laurel fix its water intake system.

Ballance says while the infrastructure bill will be coordinated with House Bill 2, she sees them as separate issues.

"I think it’s entirely possible to reach agreement on HB 2 and not reach agreement on 416.," she said. "The difference is 416 as its currently written is going to require a 2/3 vote. HB 2 requires a 51 vote so there are many things you can get 51 people to agree on you can’t necessarily get other people to agree on. 67 is pretty tough."

Ballance expects it could be Thursday or Friday before the House Appropriations Committee takes executive action on the infrastructure proposal, Senate Bill 416.

The last day of the scheduled 90-day session is May first, although some lawmakers are hoping to wrap up their work this coming Friday.

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