As of now there are 2,268 requests for legislation in the 2009 session with a total of 559 introduced bills.  Today is the official 10th day of the 61st Legislative Session, which marks the final day that individual legislators are able to submit general “non-revenue” bill drafts. 
 
The Montana Promotion Division has been monitoring several bills this week that effect administration of state programs, as well as various aspects of the tourism and film industry.  Below we have listed introduced bills and all legislative requests that we think might have a direct impact on the tourism and film industries.

The Commerce Appropriation Subcommittee hearing is scheduled for next week, beginning Wednesday 1/21/09 and concluding with executive action on Friday 1/23/09. The Montana Promotion Division has one decision package for the committee to consider which is to increase our authority to accept private dollars for the annual tourism conference, cooperative advertising campaigns, publication advertisements and website links.  

Highlights for the week:

SB 30 (Gebhardt):  Revise reimbursement for meals, lodging.  This bill was tabled by the Senate State Administration Committee. A committee bill is being drafted which will address the concerns raised by MPD.  The original bill had an unintended consequence as a result of a cross references in statute that would have increased the amount of lodging facilities that would be exempt from collecting the lodging facility use tax.  This would have resulted in a loss of lodging facilities use tax revenue.  

HB 150 (Brown): Montana recreation safety act. This bill states that in some recreational activities that there is inherent risk and it limits the liability of providers of those recreational activities.  This is similar to legislation that has been introduced in past legislatures.  The hearing for this bill took place on Tuesday, January 13 before the House Judiciary Committee.  There were several tourism industry representatives there to testify in support of this bill.   

HB 163 (Cohenour):  Revise tax incentives for motion picture industry. This bill was brought at the request of the Department of Commerce and extends the current sunset of the Big Sky on the Big Screen Act tax incentive to 2015.  The hearing for this bill was Monday, January 12, before the House Taxation Committee. There were several proponents for this bill with no opponents.  The Montana Promotion Division testified in support of this bill. We are currently waiting for the Committee to take executive action.

HB 167 (Sands):  Funding for Travelers' Rest State Park.  This bill seeks to provide operation funding for Traveler’s Rest State Park from the general fund.  There were several proponents for this bill.  A hearing was held on Tuesday, January 13 before the House Appropriations Committee.

HB 229 (MacLaren):  Funding for St. Mary’s preservation:  This bill seeks to provide funding for St. Mary’s Mission from the general fund for direct maintenance and restoration.  A hearing was held on Thursday, January 15 before the House Appropriations Committee.  There were several proponents for this bill and no opponents. 

 

Legislative Activity next week:

HB 84 (Wilson) Extend duration of fire emergency:  This bill seeks to allow state emergency declared as a result of wild land fires to extend beyond the time limit imposed for other emergencies.  The Montana Promotion Division as well as the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Council will be testifying in favor of this bill.  A hearing is scheduled for Monday, January 19, at 3:00 p.m. before the House Natural Resources Committee.    

HB 199 (Sands) Revise allocation of lodging facility use tax:  This bill increases the amount of bed tax to the Montana Heritage Commission by $150,000 a year; this would in turn reduce the amount of funds available to the current recipients of the bed tax by a like amount.  A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, January 20, at 8:00 a.m. before the House Taxation Committee.

HB 239 (Lake) Fund restoration and maintenance of Daly mansion: This bill appropriates money from the general fund for the maintenance and restoration of the Daly mansion.  A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, at 3:00 p.m. before the House Appropriations Committee.

SB 190 (Hawks) Bed tax for heritage sites, historic preservation, and travel Montana: This bill seeks to increases the lodging facility use tax by 1% and use the increased tax for heritage and historic preservation grants.  This hearing is scheduled for Thursday, January 22, at 9:00 a.m. before Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee. 

SJ-13 (Zinke) A joint resolution to commemorate the Centennial of Glacier National will be heard on Wednesday, January 21, at 3:00 p.m. before the Senate State Administration Committee.

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. 

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.

 

Bill Type - Number	Primary Sponsor	Status	Status Date	Short Title
HB 5	Jon C Sesso	(H) Referred to Committee -- (H) Appropriations	12/19/2008	Long-range building appropriations -- include energy conservation
HB 9	Galen Hollenbaugh	(H) Referred to Committee -- (H) Appropriations	12/23/2008	Cultural and aesthetic grant appropriations
HB 51	Dee Brown	(H) Referred to Committee -- (H) Fish, Wildlife and Parks	12/12/2008	Make state park fee opt in
HB 84	Bill Wilson	(H) Hearing -- (H) Natural Resources	01/19/2009; 3:00 PM, Rm 472	Extend duration of fire emergency
HB 150	Dee Brown	(H) Hearing -- (H) Judiciary	01/13/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 137	Montana recreation responsibility act
HB 163	Jill Cohenour	(H) Hearing -- (H) Taxation	01/12/2009; 10:00 AM, Rm 152	Revise tax incentives for motion picture industry
HB 167	Diane Sands	(H) Hearing -- (H) Appropriations	01/13/2009; 3:00 PM, Rm 102	Funding for Travelers' Rest State Park
HB 199	Robin Hamilton	(H) Hearing -- (H) Taxation	01/20/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 152	Revise allocation of lodging facility use tax
HB 229	Gary MacLaren	(H) Hearing -- (H) Appropriations	01/15/2009; 3:00 PM, Rm 102	Fund St.Mary's preservation
HB 239	Bob Lake	(H) Hearing -- (H) Appropriations	01/21/2009; 3:00 PM, Rm 102	Fund restoration and maintenance of Daly mansion
SB 19	Larry Jent	(S) Referred to Committee -- (S) Fish and Game	12/03/2008	Revise nonresident outfitter license--reciprocity
SB 30	Kelly Gebhardt	(S) Tabled in Committee* -- (S) State Administration	01/09/2009	Revise reimbursement for meals, lodging
SB 117	David E Wanzenried	(S) Committee Report--Bill Passed -- (S) Finance and Claims	01/15/2009	Revise or eliminate certain statutory appropriations
SB 166	Dave Lewis	(S) Hearing -- (S) Local Government	01/23/2009; 3:00 PM, Rm 405	Allow low-interest coal tax trust fund loans to expand rail passenger service
SB 190	Bob Hawks	(S) Hearing -- (S) Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs	01/22/2009; 9:00 AM, Rm 422	Bed tax for heritage sites, historic preservation, and travel Montana
SB 237	Dave Lewis	(S) Referred to Committee -- (S) Highways and Transportation	01/16/2009	Primary seatbelt enforcement for motor vehicle occupants
SJ 6	Ken (Kim) Hansen	(S) Hearing -- (S) Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs	01/19/2009; 10:00 AM, Rm 422	Urge 24-hour operation for Turner port of entry
SJ 13	Ryan Zinke	(S) Hearing -- (S) State Administration	01/21/2009; 3:00 PM, Rm 335	Commemorate Glacier Park's centennial
SJ 15	Bruce Tutvedt	(S) Referred to Committee -- (S) Fish and Game	01/15/2009	Urge vigorous defense of gray wolf delisting

Unintroduced Bills Matching the Search Criteria

Total number of Unintroduced Bills - 18

Bill Draft No. (LC No.)	Requestor	Status	Status Date	Short Title
LC0001	Jeff Essmann	(C) Draft Request Received	04/25/2007	Uniform local option tourism tax
LC0092	Joseph (Joe) Tropila	(C) Draft On Hold	10/23/2008	Primary seatbelt law
LC0122	George G Groesbeck	(C) Draft On Hold	11/07/2008	Funding for national folk festival
LC0719	Dee Brown	(C) Draft in Final Drafter Review	01/16/2009	Donut area population included in resort community population
LC0827	Bill Nooney	(C) Draft On Hold	11/26/2008	Generally revise short-term lodging criteria
LC0854	Diane Sands	(C) Draft Ready for Delivery	01/08/2009	Green lodging facility designation
LC1083	Bob Ebinger	(C) Draft in Assembly/Executive Director Review	01/15/2009	Fund media institute
LC1156	Jim Peterson	(C) Draft On Hold	12/01/2008	Generally revise recreation laws
LC1194	Lynda Moss	(C) Draft On Hold	12/19/2008	State dog
LC1268	Mike Menahan	(C) Draft Ready for Delivery	01/07/2009	Revise laws governing heritage commission
LC1867	Bill Beck	(C) Draft Ready for Delivery	01/13/2009	Increase population requirement for resort tax purposes
LC1924	Mike Milburn	(C) Draft to Requester for Review	01/16/2009	Study resolution on funding for a recreation and tourism enhancement program
LC1938	Gary Branae	(C) Draft On Hold	12/23/2008	Revise scenic byways laws
LC1993	Jon Sonju	(C) Draft in Assembly/Executive Director Review	01/15/2009	Name portion of US Highway 2 after Highway Patrol officer David Graham
LC2052	Debby Barrett	(C) Draft On Hold	01/06/2009	Revise statutory appropriation law
LC2095	Jim Shockley	(C) Draft in Legal Review	01/16/2009	Increase lodging and per diem reimbursement for state employees
LC2115	Mark Blasdel	(C) Draft in Assembly/Executive Director Review	01/15/2009	Name portion of Highway 2 in honor of Evan Schneider
LC2225	(H) Appropriations Standing Committee	(C) Draft Request Received	01/16/2009	Revise lodging facility use tax allocation

 

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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