The 61st Regular Legislative Session started here in Helena on Monday and started with a rush. We attended a hearing on Wednesday and found out yesterday our HB 163 Big Sky on the Big Screen Act will be heard in front of House Taxation on Monday, January 12… more on both of those below. Since this is just the start of the session, bills are being introduced and scheduled for hearing quickly.
The Montana Promotion Division has been active this past week testifying on, as well as monitoring, a number of bills 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 an impact on the tourism and film industries. In future updates we will just be focusing on the introduced bills.
Highlights for the week:
SB 30 (Gebhardt): Revise reimbursement for meals, lodging. Hearing was this week in front of Senate State Administration. Although not directly mentioned in the bill, an unintended consequence as a result of cross references in statute would be that more lodging facilities could be exempt from collecting the lodging facility use tax. This would result in a potential loss of $1.7 million in collections in FY 2010. All agencies receiving a percentage of the lodging facility use tax would see their budgets decreased accordingly. Senator Gebhardt didn’t intend for that to happen and has suggested amendments to the current bill. Alternately the committee raised questions about drafting a committee bill to resolve this problem. The Montana Promotion Division testified as an informational witness at this hearing.
Legislative Activity next week:
HB 163 (Cohenour): Revise tax incentives for motion picture industry. A hearing has been scheduled for Monday, January 12, at 10:00 before the House Taxation Committee. 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 Montana Promotion Division will be at the hearing and testifying in support of this bill.
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. A hearing has been scheduled on Tuesday, January 13 before the House Judiciary Committee.
HB 167 (Sands): Funding for Travelers' Rest State Park. This bill has a hearing scheduled on Tuesday, January 13 before the House Appropriations Committee and seeks to provide funding for Traveler’s Rest State Park from the general fund.
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) Referred to Committee -- (H) Natural Resources |
12/17/2008 |
Extend duration of fire emergency |
HB 150 |
Dee Brown |
(H) Hearing -- (H) Judiciary |
01/13/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 137 |
Montana recreation safety 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) Referred to Committee -- (H) Taxation |
01/08/2009 |
Revise allocation of lodging facility use tax |
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) Hearing -- (S) State Administration |
01/07/2009; 3:00 pm, Rm 335 |
Revise reimbursement for meals, lodging |
SB 117 |
David E Wanzenried |
(S) Hearing -- (S) Finance and Claims |
01/12/2009; 5:00 PM, Rm 317A |
Revise or eliminate certain statutory appropriations |
SB 166 |
Dave Lewis |
(S) Referred to Committee -- (S) Local Government |
01/07/2009 |
Allow low-interest coal tax trust fund loans to expand rail passenger service |
SB 190 |
Bob Hawks |
(S) Referred to Committee -- (S) Judiciary |
01/09/2009 |
Bed tax for heritage sites, historic preservation, and travel Montana |
SJ 6 |
Ken (Kim) Hansen |
(S) Hearing -- (S) Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs |
01/19/2009; 8:00 AM, Rm 422 |
Urge 24-hour operation for Turner port of entry |
SJ 13 |
Ryan Zinke |
(S) Referred to Committee -- (S) State Administration |
01/07/2009 |
Commemorate Glacier Park's centennial |
Unintroduced Bills Matching the Search Criteria
Total number of Unintroduced Bills - 18
Bill Draft No. (LC No.) |
Request Date |
Requestor |
Status |
Status Date |
Short Title |
LC0001 |
04/25/2007 |
Jeff Essmann |
(C) Draft Request Received |
04/25/2007 |
Uniform local option tourism tax |
LC0047 |
02/08/2008 |
Mike Cooney |
(C) Draft in Input/Proofing |
01/09/2009 |
Primary seatbelt enforcement for motor vehicle occupants |
LC0092 |
04/14/2008 |
Joseph (Joe) Tropila |
(C) Draft On Hold |
10/23/2008 |
Primary seatbelt law |
LC0122 |
05/22/2008 |
George G Groesbeck |
(C) Draft On Hold |
11/07/2008 |
Funding for national folk festival |
LC0304 |
07/30/2008 |
Gary MacLaren |
(C) Draft Delivered to Requester |
01/05/2009 |
Fund restoration and maintenance of Daly mansion |
LC0719 |
11/06/2008 |
Dee Brown |
(C) Draft to Requester for Review |
12/31/2008 |
Donut area population included in resort community population |
LC0827 |
11/13/2008 |
Bill Nooney |
(C) Draft On Hold |
11/26/2008 |
Generally revise short-term lodging criteria |
LC0854 |
11/13/2008 |
Diane Sands |
(C) Draft Ready for Delivery |
01/08/2009 |
Green lodging facility designation |
LC1083 |
11/24/2008 |
Bob Ebinger |
(C) Draft Request Received |
11/24/2008 |
Fund media institute |
LC1156 |
12/01/2008 |
Jim Peterson |
(C) Draft On Hold |
12/01/2008 |
Generally revise recreation laws |
LC1185 |
12/01/2008 |
Gary MacLaren |
(C) Draft Delivered to Requester |
01/08/2009 |
Fund St.Mary's preservation |
LC1194 |
12/01/2008 |
Lynda Moss |
(C) Draft On Hold |
12/19/2008 |
State dog |
LC1268 |
12/02/2008 |
Mike Menahan |
(C) Draft Ready for Delivery |
01/07/2009 |
Revise laws governing heritage commission |
LC1924 |
12/22/2008 |
Mike Milburn |
(C) Draft On Hold |
12/31/2008 |
Recreation and tourism enhancement program |
LC1938 |
12/23/2008 |
Gary Branae |
(C) Draft On Hold |
12/23/2008 |
Revise scenic byways laws |
LC1957 |
12/29/2008 |
Bruce Tutvedt |
(C) Draft Ready for Delivery |
01/05/2009 |
Urge vigorous defense of gray wolf delisting |
LC1993 |
01/02/2009 |
Jon Sonju |
(C) Draft to Requester for Review |
01/07/2009 |
Name portion of US Highway 2 after Highway Patrol officer David Graham |
LC2052 |
01/05/2009 |
Debby Barrett |
(C) Draft On Hold |
01/06/2009 |
Revise statutory appropriation law |
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
