Significant change coming for infrastructure bills

Things are off and running now at the legislature as an avalanche of policy bills are hitting committees and receiving hearings.

In the infrastructure committee, we have just finished hearing all the projects in the Long-Range Building Program (HB5) and in the coming week we will be hearing water, wastewater and bridge projects from all over the state. I have scheduled the committee to vote on all the rest of the infrastructure bills on Feb. 7 in order to move them through the process as quickly as possible, so we are close to finishing our committee work. Our work on infrastructure won’t be done though as once we move the bills out of committee, it is our job to then shepherd them all through the legislative process.

I have not talked about it much, because we have been in the planning stage, but we have been in talks to significantly change the way that the state deals with large infrastructure bills in Montana. We are now to the point where bill drafts will be put together in the next week or two. This will be, if we can get it right, the largest change to the way that the State of Montana deals with infrastructure since I have been involved. I could not be happier with the way that it has all been coming together and I think, if we can get it done, it will be one of the legislative session’s biggest achievements.

As for the state budget, the other subcommittees have been moving through their work and soon they will be making their recommendations to the full House Appropriations Committee. Things are moving smoothly in both the Health and Human Services and Education subcommittees and we seem to be on track for a budget that fixes the problems from the special session and delivers a structurally sound, fiscally responsible budget that does not require any tax increases.

As for my own legislation, my first non-infrastructure bill has been fully drafted and is going through legal review before being sent out for a hearing. It is a bill to get property tax relief to Montana Seniors living on a fixed income. A lot of work has gone into putting this bill together in a way that can pass the legislature and deliver real, targeted relief to those hit hardest by the constant increases in property taxes at the city/county level and I am really looking forward to it making its way through the process.

Thank you to everyone in House District 92 that has reached out to talk about the various bills making their way through the process. If there are ever any bills that you are passionate or have questions about, I would love to chat with you about them. You can call/text me at (406) 531-1775, email me at MikeforMontana@gmail.com or contact me on Twitter and Facebook.