Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Just before Easter the Senate passed my SB416, which is the only major infrastructure bill that might have a chance to pass. Senate Bill 416 passed the Senate on a 47 to 3 vote. SB416 will be heard in the House Appropriations Committee and to pass the House it must get a two-thirds vote as it has a bonding component. This bill is one that no one particularly stomachs, but is a compromise bill that has a chance to pass. Just before Easter, Sarah Swanson Partridge and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Flowers brought two busloads of seventh graders (about 60...
This week at the Legislature will be the hard discussions on Medicaid expansion. Here are some interesting facts to ponder. Montana has a little over 1 million folks. There are 128,000 people on Medicaid, 145,000 on food stamps, on either side of 200,000 on medicare and I cannot find out how many are on child or housing support. If we (Legislature) add 70,000 more on Medicaid (some say that could be as high as 110,000) that would amount to 20 percent of Montana citizens on the Medicaid program! And, if the federal share would go away, Montana...
Transmittal (halftime) has come and gone, and now today (March 16) is the 54th day of the session. The House bills are coming over in droves to the Senate. The BIG discussions will be the Medicaid expansion or various plans, and the budget. The House is taking up the budget (HB2) this week. The budget will be the last act of the Legislature before we sine die (adjourn). I am drafting a major infrastructure bill, and we will be hearing this in the next upcoming days. It still is in rough draft and we are meeting with Democrats and Republicans...
It is halftime at the Legislature, and they call it transmittal. The Legislature has a few days off until the 5th of March. This is when all the general bills have to be passed from one house to the other in order to be heard in their respective chamber. This first half went much better than in the 2013 session. There were some disappointments in my mind. The CSKT (Salish/Kootenai Tribal Water Compact) passed the Senate and I did not support the Compact as I thought it was too much money and a taking of private property rights. I also did not...
Hello again from Helena. This is the last week before transmittal, (when all general bills going from one House to the other must be acted upon) and then we will be halfway through the session. The Legislature will have a few days off before we start on the second half where all the tough decisions will be made. My SB248 passed the Senate last week and now will go to the House. It just merely states that when someone comments to the legislature they must give their name, town/city and state. This no different than when someone writes a letter...
Hello again from the Capitol in Helena. Last week we passed SB 188 by Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, out of the Senate, a bill that would limit the insurance liability on property caused by range and forest fires. Examples were given how some awards have been outlandish compared to what the worth of the property was. The electrical co-ops have in the past been very impacted by these high monetary awards as well as other property owners. This bill now goes to the House. My SB 89 passed the Senate without any opposition. This bill simply says that...
Hello again from the capital. Now that the Super Bowl is over (much to the dismay of the Seahawk fans), we can get back to business here in Helena. My SB 88 passed the Senate 48-0, and that is the bill that gives the conservation districts the same and equal bidding rights that the cities, towns and counties were granted last session in my SB 77. It will go to the House, and I would think it will pass there as well. We are very fortunate to have in the Senate this year retired District Judge Swandal. His SB90 to revise penalties and eliminate j...
Hello to everyone in my massive BIG Senate district that goes from the North Dakota border to north of Hingham. I have 285 miles of the 545 miles of the U.S./Canadian border, and it equates to 52 percent of the border. We are now at the start of the third week of the session, and the bills and meetings will come to us in a fast and furious way. Please give me a call if you come up to Helena. I especially like to have school and other related groups come and visit me so they may be introduced to the Senate. The Governor has put forth a grand...
Hello, this is Sen. John Brenden sending a letter to the folks in my Sen. District #17. Since the last election, my senate district has increased to include Chinook and everything north in Blaine County and everything north of Highway 2 in Havre, angling northwest by Fresno, ending about straight north of Hingham, but not including Hingham. My district goes from the North Dakota border about 282 miles west and that is 51 percent of the 545-mile border with Canada! It is the largest state senate district in miles that borders Canada; it...
Montana outdoor enthusiasts have it pretty good. With over 32 million acres of state and federal land open to all sorts of recreational opportunities, we truly are an outdoors mecca. Most of that public property has ample access, but some is landlocked and accessible only by obtaining permission from an adjoining landowner, or in some cases by flying or boating in. The Montana legislature, Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Bureau of Land Management, and other agencies have all been challenged with finding new ways to increase access to landlocked...
Montana State Sen. John C. Brenden, R-District 18, wrote this letter to U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R, and sent it to The Courier. Congressman Daines – I have been contacted by many of my Montana Senate District 18 constituents about the horrible service by the U.S. Postal Service. There basically is no service anymore. When mail takes weeks or days to go from one Montana town to another 20 miles or more away – it is ridiculous and harmful to the health and economies of Montana! And it is not the fault of the local post office workers. Ran...
The past few days I have been besieged by phone calls on the price increase of propane. This past weekend this increase has been on the national news as well. There are many reasons for this terrible price hike and I am sure you have heard them all. But this cannot continue. I would urge you to call the governor’s office and our congressional delegation (see contact information below) to put pressure on the powers that be to roll back this intolerable increase. Is there price gouging going on? I do not know, but one could sure jump to that c...
On January 8th and 9th the state EQC (Environmental Quality Council) had its meeting in Helena. I currently am the chairman. The EQC has oversight on FWP (Fish Wildlife & Parks), DNRC (Department of Natural Resources) and DEQ (Dept. of Environmental Quality). There are several important issues that affec us Montanans, especially in north central and northeastern Montana, that the EQC has on its table. The EQC is a bipartisan committee made up of eight Republicans and eight Democrats. The Sage Grouse right now is the latest problem chid. The...
