My Page: Daniel Testa
Montana Legislature
Biodiesel Bill Still TruckingAt this stage of the legislature, any bill still alive has already undergone a number of hearings.
So at those hearings for bills which cast conservation groups on one side, and the extractive resource industries on another, speakers can now anticipate the opposition’s arguments. They knowingly shake their heads or roll their eyes or smile in exasperation as familiar talking points are rattled off.
Such was the case Monday as representatives of Montana’s petroleum, trucking and gas station industries lined up to oppose a bill mandating that diesel fuel contain a portion of biodiesel.
Introducing his bill to the House Transportation Committee, Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, made clear his motivations were not purely environmental.
“Make no mistake,” he said. “It’s not like I’ve taken Al Gore as my lord and savior.”
[more]
Montana Legislature
Time Running Out for Surface-Groundwater LegislationBefore Friday’s hearing for a bill to instruct the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation how to issue groundwater permits in closed basins, a small group sat near the door listening to a song on a CD player.
It’s a jaunty new country tune titled, “A Montana Water Rights Ballad.”
While simply reading the lyrics doesn’t do justice to the melody written by Frosty Erben of Billings, the chorus does describe the feelings of some of the bill’s opponents:
“Keep a moving guy, Don’t ya listen to their lie, We gotta wonder why,
“They’ve made a plan so sly for water.
“People can’t you see that the DNRC wants our water runnin’ free.
“Leavin’ nothing there for you and me … water,
“Cool, Well, Water.”
Every bit as political as a Dixie Chicks number with none of the production value.
[more]
Montana Legislature
House Rejects Health Funding Bill For 3rd Time After Nasty Debate
At times Wednesday, the Montana House seemed more like the bleachers of a 1970s hockey game than a deliberative body: The jeers, the catcalls, everyone threateningly rising to their feet after certain remarks.
The only difference is that it’s hard to tell who is winning and who is losing.
“It fairly well signals the beginning of the end of working together,” Majority Leader Michael Lange, R-Billings, said after the day's session.
Upon hearing of Lange’s comment, Senate President Mike Cooney, D-Helena, chuckled and replied, “If this is the end of it, I’m not sure I’ve seen the beginning.”
Lawmakers’ responses came on the heels of one of the nastiest debates of the session, with Republicans unable to pass the budget bill funding the Department of Public Health and Human Services for the third time.
[more]
Montana Legislature
Bills Support Local Food, Crack Down on Counterfeit Huckleberries
I was salivating at the House Agricultural Committee hearing Tuesday where the talk concerned wild, native Montana huckleberries, grass-fed natural beef tenderloin and fresh, locally-grown vegetables.
The committee heard and unanimously passed four measures to bolster the Montana agriculture community’s ability to market and sell its goods within the state – and to better cash-in on the growing niche of consumers interested in natural, local food.
Huckleberry jam producers, ranchers, farmers and representatives of the state’s major agricultural interests turned out to support the four measures and no one spoke in opposition.
[more]
Montana Legislature
A Roundup Of Montana Wildfire LegislationWith snowpack low and melting off fast, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director Mary Sexton calls the outlook for the upcoming fire season “a cause for caution early on.”
But, Sexton adds, she’s confident the package of bills working its way through this legislature will better equip her department to tackle Montana’s increasingly long and dangerous fire seasons.
With less than six weeks left in Montana’s 60th Legislative Session, here are the major wildland fire bills and the hurdles they have left to tackle before becoming law.
[more]
Montana Legislature
Schweitzer Unveils Clean and Green Energy Plan
Standing in front of a line of solar and battery-powered cars, Gov. Brian Schweitzer unveiled the cornerstone of his “clean and green” energy legislation Friday.
“This will redefine Montana as a leader in energy,” Schweitzer said, as a young staffer in suit and sneakers tried to look discreet as a human easel for a backdrop proclaiming “Montana: The Future of Energy.”
But as he zipped around the statehouse driveway test-driving smaller-than-subcompact, electric vehicles, Republicans were already questioning the governor’s introduction of substantial energy legislation on the 56th day of the session.
[more]
Legislature
Montana Budget Brawl: Round 2The saga of the House GOP budget bills continued Thursday with Republicans successfully ramming through another bill on a party-line vote, but stalling on a bill to fund the Department of Public Health and Human Services.
Fiscal conservatives, including House Speaker Scott Sales of Bozeman and Rick Jore, C-Ronan, voted against the Public Health bill which failed 54 to 46 with Democrats continuing to oppose all Republican budget bills and amendments.
The statesmanlike rhetoric on the floor today concerned whether the Democrats were “whining” about their refusal to support the GOP budget.
“Everybody pokes holes in everything that comes across the floor here,” said the normally-placid Rep. Alan Olson, R-Roundup. “Bring something forward, don’t sit here and complain about the process.”
“Quit whining,” Olson added. “Everybody in here.”
[more]
Montana Legislature
First Budget Bills Pass House, Despite Democrats’ Block
The Republican-controlled House Wednesday passed the first three of its budget bills, with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s firefighting fund taking the biggest hit.
An amendment to House Bill 805, which funds Natural Resource and Commerce departments, cut roughly $10 million from the DNRC fire suppression funds that Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s proposal had requested.
The cut by no means impairs the DNRC’s firefighting capabilities, but virtually ensures the agency will require supplementary funding before the next legislative session.
Many Republicans and Democrats acknowledged the firefighting money is necessary, yet the amendment passed 51 to 49 with all Democrats opposed.
But that’s how things went today in the House, with many lawmakers openly admitting to voting for bills with which they disagreed.
[more]
Montana Legislature
The Budget 6-Pack Becomes an 8-Pack1:53 pm
The House has adjourned for the day after tackling three of the budget bills, with five left to go.
The total decrease in the level of funding from committee was $19.2 million, according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Division.
Stand by for some context on what this means -- if anything -- at this stage.
[more]
Montana Legislature
Does the Budget Bluster Matter?In the committee hearings last week over the Republican-proposed budget bill “six-pack,” the debate’s tone alternated between outrage, and, as evening approached and donut consumption escalated, lethargy.
Wednesday night, after three days of hearings that stretched on for 12 or 14 hours each day in a stuffy, over-crowded room, some bleary lawmakers voted with their heads on the desk or leaning back with eyes closed.
In vote after vote, the Democrats explored the nuance of the word “no,” leaning forward to speak it fiercely into the microphone, at other times wearily murmuring their objection.
After observing this for three days while scribbling furiously on legal pads and scrolling through the hours of footage, we reporters returned to one question: “Why should the average Montanan care if there are six budget bills or one?”
[more]
