I apologize for the delay in sending out this News from the Front.  It was nice to see so many of you at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Recreation.

Last week was another busy and productive week on the hill.   Several more deadlines passed this last week.  March 31 was the deadline for the transmittal of revenue bills to the other legislative chamber and April 2 was the deadline for the transmittal of amendments to general bills.  All of these deadlines are requiring bills to be moved and also whittling down the total amount of bills that are still active in the legislature.  The Senate and House of Representatives took Saturday off which means that they save a day to be used at a later time if needed.

This week HB 2, the general funding bill for most of state government, is expected to be debated on the Senate Floor this week before being sent to a joint conference committee.

Highlights for the week:

HB 5 (Sesso) Long-range building appropriations—include energy conservation:  This bill provides funding for capital needs for state parks and Montana Heritage Commission.  This bill was heard before the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on Wednesday, April 1, 2009.

HB 9 (Hollenbaugh) Cultural and aesthetic grant appropriations:  This bill provides funding for the Cultural and Aesthetic Grants that are administered by the Montana Arts Council.  This bill was heard before the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on Monday, March 30, 2009.

HB 150 (Brown) Montana recreation safety act: This bill states that in some recreational activities there is inherent risk, and it limits the liability of providers of those recreational activities.  The bill was transmitted to the Governor.

HB 163 (Cohenour): Big Sky on the Big Screen Act:  The Big Sky on the Big Screen Act, the film production incentive bill to extend the sunset date to December 31, 2014, was transmitted to the Governor.

HB 190 (Van Dyk):  Clarify bridge access law: This bill tries to clarify Montana law on public access to state rivers and streams from county roads and bridges. It declares that people may gain access to state waterways for recreational use by using a public bridge, a right-of-way or abutment and a county road right-of-way.  This bill was amended and passed out of the Senate and was returned to the House.

HB 645 (Sesso) Implement receipt of and appropriate federal stimulus and recovery funds:  This is the bill that contains the funding available to the states for the federal stimulus bill.  One provision that was put into the bill was $3 million to the Department to Commerce for Historic Preservation Competitive Grants.  There was funding earmarked under this program for $50,000 the restoration and maintenance of the Daly Mansion, $40,000 for Saint Mary’s Mission maintenance and restoration and $180,000 for the restoration and preservation of Travelers’ Rest.  This bill was heard by the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

SB 329 (Barkus) Revise automobile licensing and insurance laws:  This is currently a 75 page bill that deals in part with phasing out the specialty license plates and having the license plates replaced by a generic license plate with the option of obtaining specific decals.  This bill missed the deadline for revenue bill transmittal.

SB 343 ( Jackson) Regulation of zebra mussel and other invasive species:  The bill is was heard by the House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

SB 506 (Essmann) Uniform local option tourism tax:  This bill provides for a local option tourism tax of 4% on the retail value of tourism goods and services, such as accommodations; prepared meals; alcoholic beverages sold by the drink; rental of automobiles, recreation vehicles, recreational equipment; and on recreational services such as hunting and fishing guide services and guided tours in addition to others.  This bill failed on 2^nd reading in the Senate and failed to meet the deadline for revenue bill transmittal.

Legislative Activity this week:

HB 644 (Sesso) Funding for national folk festival:  This bill was amended to appropriate $200,000 to the Department of Commerce from the state general fund to be used for the National Folk Festival.  This bill will be heard by the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on Monday, April 06, 2009 at 8:00 am.

SB 457 (Branae) Revise scenic byways laws:  This bill is scheduled for 2^nd reading in the Senate on April 6, 2009 to look at the amendments that were put on in the House.

The chart below is for introduced bills that may have direct impact on the accommodation tax or issues important to the tourism and film industry.  Bills that failed to meet the revenue and amendments to general bills deadline will be deleted from the report next week.

When looking at the status of a bill on this chart, here are some helpful hints:

• Referred to committee means the bill has been assigned to the committee, but the hearing date has not been set.
• Hearing means a hearing is scheduled.

* after status indicates the bill is probably dead

Bill Type - Number	Primary Sponsor	Status	Status Date	Short Title
HB 5	Jon C Sesso	(S) Hearing -- (S) Finance and Claims	04/01/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 317	Long-range building appropriations -- include energy conservation
HB 9	Galen Hollenbaugh	(S) Hearing -- (S) Finance and Claims	03/30/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 317	Cultural and aesthetic grant appropriations
HB 150	Dee Brown	(H) Transmitted to Governor	04/01/2009	Montana recreation responsibility act
HB 163	Jill Cohenour	(H) Transmitted to Governor	04/01/2009	Revise tax incentives for motion picture industry
HB 190	Kendall Van Dyk	(H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading	04/06/2009	Clarify bridge access law
HB 199	Robin Hamilton	(H) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal*	03/31/2009	Revise allocation of lodging facility use tax
HB 304	Jon Sonju	(H) Signed by Governor	04/02/2009	Name portion of US Highway 2 after Highway Patrol officer David Graham
HB 311	Mark Blasdel	(H) Signed by Governor	04/02/2009	Name portion of Highway 2 in honor of Evan Schneider
HB 312	Bill Beck	(S) Hearing -- (S) Taxation	04/06/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 405	Increase population requirement for resort tax purposes
HB 329	Dee Brown	(H) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal*	03/31/2009	Donut area population included in resort community population
HB 644	Jon C Sesso	(S) Hearing -- (S) Finance and Claims	04/06/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 317	Funding for national folk festival
HB 645	Jon C Sesso	(S) Hearing -- (S) Finance and Claims	03/31/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 317	Implement receipt of and appropriate federal stimulus and recovery funds
HJ 15	Mike Milburn	(S) Returned to House	04/03/2009	Study resolution on funding for a recreation and tourism enhancement program
HJ 32	Bob Ebinger	(H) Hearing -- (H) Taxation	04/01/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 152	Study impact of historic preservation and strategies for preservation
SB 117	David E Wanzenried	(S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading	04/06/2009	Revise or eliminate certain statutory appropriations
SB 118	Verdell Jackson	(S) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal*	03/31/2009	Create invasive and destructive species council
SB 190	Bob Hawks	(S) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal*	03/31/2009	Bed tax for heritage sites, historic preservation, and travel Montana
SB 237	Dave Lewis	(S) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal*	03/31/2009	Primary seatbelt enforcement for motor vehicle occupants
SB 329	Gregory D Barkus	(S) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal*	03/31/2009	Revise automobile licensing and insurance laws
SB 343	Verdell Jackson	(H) Hearing -- (H) Agriculture	03/31/2009; 3:00 PM, Rm 472	Regulation of zebra mussel and other invasive species
SB 457	Gary Branae	(S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading	04/06/2009	Revise scenic byways laws
SB 506	Jeff Essmann	(S) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal*	03/31/2009	Uniform local option tourism tax
SJ 6	Ken (Kim) Hansen	(S) Filed with Secretary of State	03/18/2009	Urge 24-hour operation for Turner port of entry
SJ 13	Ryan Zinke	(S) Filed with Secretary of State	03/09/2009	Commemorate Glacier Park's centennial
SJ 15	Bruce Tutvedt	(S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading	04/06/2009	Urge vigorous defense of gray wolf delisting

Unintroduced Bills

Bill Draft No. (LC No.)	Request Date	Requestor	Status	Status Date	Short Title
LC0092	04/14/2008	Joseph (Joe) Tropila	(C) Draft On Hold	10/23/2008	Primary seatbelt law
LC0827	11/13/2008	Bill Nooney	(C) Draft On Hold	11/26/2008	Generally revise short-term lodging criteria
LC1156	12/01/2008	Jim Peterson	(C) Draft Ready for Delivery	02/13/2009	Generally revise recreation laws--hunting w permission as recreational use
LC1268	12/02/2008	Mike Menahan	(C) Draft Ready for Delivery	01/07/2009	Revise laws governing heritage commission
LC2052	01/05/2009	Debby Barrett	(C) Draft On Hold	01/06/2009	Revise statutory appropriation law
LC2225	01/16/2009	(H) Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education	(C) Draft On Hold	01/21/2009	Revise lodging facility use tax allocation

“Probably Dead" is a Bill Progress Category, and is assigned to those bills that have been voted down or missed a transmittal deadline, and to those bill drafts that have been canceled. To revive a bill that is "probably dead" typically requires a supermajority vote (usually a 2/3 vote) by the House or Senate.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Remember, the legislature has now set up a system for contacting representatives by e-mail. 

http://leg.mt.gov/css/sessions/61st/legwebmessage.asp

Until next week…

 

Betsy Baumgart
Division Administrator
Montana Promotion Division
bbaumgart@mt.gov

 

 

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