HELENA (AP)
The speaker of the Montana House says he has no quarrel with Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s request for $55 million to pay for fighting wildfires as lawmakers convene in a special legislative session this week. But Speaker Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, said he is against Schweitzer’s other goal for the special session: increasing the governor’s emergency account from $16 million to $25 million and allowing the governor to call a single fire emergency that could last up to four months. Sales said a special session is not the time or place to discuss a larger policy change like expanding the governor’s di sas t e r and eme rgency authority. Lawmakers ought to get in, transfer the money for firefighting, and get out, he said. As of last week, the state’s share of the 2007 firefighting bill was $35 million, which is $19 million more than the state has allocated to pay for fires and other disasters for the next two years. Schweitzer said he wants lawmakers to consider spending $55 million to pay for wildfires both this year and next.
