April 21-25, 2025

Stale puzzle analogy; Monster or just misunderstood?; Building swap for UM; Capitol parking soon available!     

“Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos; the materials must, in the first place, be afforded: it can give form to dark, shapeless substances, but cannot bring into being the substance itself.”

--Mary Shelley, Frankenstein


As the chapter closes on Week 15 of the 69th Montana Legislature without a motion to adjourn sine die, certain pieces of the puzzle are nearly in place; but on Legislative Day 82, large holes remain in the final big picture.  

Conference committees made up of members of both chambers are meeting in earnest to settle (or not) differences between House and Senate versions of bills, standing committees are still convening for hearings and executive action on study resolutions, and several vehicles (body parts, if you will)—which are part of property tax relief and state finance changes from soup to nuts—remain in limbo, destined to be rendered into one or more final proposals which are aptly dubbed Frankenbills. It’s not unusual for Frankenbills to haunt the halls as the clock runs down on the session but considering that most if not all the members serving this session campaigned with property tax relief among their primary pledges to voters, these particular creations are of intense interest and the subject of impassioned debate.

Whatever emerges from the property tax laboratory is sure to be reviled by some, touted by others, and possibly in need of further alterations before being released from its shackles.

In a curious twist of timing, as the days are long and tempers flare, a bill that would have eliminated damages for injuries and death arising from a duel (yes, a duel) failed on 2nd Reading in the Senate Friday morning. (If after reading this, Hamilton's "Ten Duel Commandments" becomes an earworm, apologies.)

Policymaking's Long Tail

Adjournment sine die may send legislators home, but it does not conclude the process. Hundreds of bills must be reviewed and signed (or not) by the Governor. When the Governor receives a bill, he may sign it, veto it outright, submit an amendatory veto back to the Legislature, or let it lie unsigned, in which case it becomes law within 10 days of its delivery to his office. The Governor may take these actions whether or not the Legislature is in session. If the Legislature is not in session when the Governor vetoes a bill and if the bill was approved by at least two-thirds of the members, the Secretary of State polls the members by mail to accept or override the veto. A vote to override a veto requires at least two-thirds of the members. The Governor may line item veto an appropriation in a bill after the Legislature adjourns. It is subject to polling by the Secretary of State as well.

All of this droll procedural what-have-you is to say that the ultimate outcomes of hundreds of measures have not yet been determined and many will not be determined for days, even weeks, after the final gavel falls.

MUS Approps Edging Closer

The remaining big ticket MUS priorities, however, are among the puzzle pieces nearing placement.

HB 2
On Wednesday, HB 2 passed 3rd Reading in the Senate on a 27-23 vote. The bill as amended by the Senate has been returned to the House. If the House votes to concur in the Senate amendments, it moves on to the Governor. If the House disagrees, both chambers appoint a conference committee. Final iterations of many General Appropriations Acts have been determined by six people in a small stuffy room with stacks of amendments to debate. Although voices decrying the level of spending continue to multiply and amplify, indications are that this year, HB 2 may evade the dreaded conference committee surgical table.

HB 5
On Thursday, the Senate concurred in HB 5 on a 43-6 vote after having approved one amendment, brought to the chamber by OCHE. The amendment allows a combination of an appropriation approved in 2023 for renovation of the Clapp Building on the UM campus with the appropriation approved in 2021 for the UM Forestry Conservation & Science Lab capital project. The combined appropriation provides for the replacement of the Clapp Building with the Forestry capital project which may not exceed the square footage of the Clapp Building or result in expansion of programs or new programs.

HB 5, like HB 2, has been sent back to the House to concur in or reject the Senate amendments. Concurrence next week is likely.

HB 10
The House concurred in the Senate’s amendments to HB 10 on Friday and will take 3rd Reading action on Monday. The vote to concur was 98-2, so the long-range information technology project appropriations should soon head to the Governor.

Any Day Now

Vegas oddsmakers have allegedly tapped Tuesday to be the magic departure day. Of course, this bus is more than a century old and four whole days need to pass without the wheels coming off.

Next week’s final installation of the Legislative Week in Review will include the latest status of all of OCHE’s prioritized tracked bills and news of any duels that transpired on Capitol grounds.

Time Served

Legislative Day: 82 (or maybe, unofficially, 88)
Percent Complete: 91.11% (or maybe, unofficially, 97.78%)