Lawmakers finalize budget, adjourn

MATT GOURAS Associated Press Writer HELENA

Montana lawmakers wrapped up their work Tuesday by completing action on a state budget that offers modest overall increase, and finalizing plans for nearly a billion dollars worth of federal stimulus money. Lawmakers needed all 90 days the Montana Constitution gives them to adopt a spending plan after a nearly evenly split Legislature fought for weeks over different spending plans. But both chambers adjourned amicably by mid-afternoon Tuesday. In the end, both Republicans and Democrats were able to say they got some, but not all, of what they wanted. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, too, said that overall he felt the budget and the legislative session were a success but cautioned that he might find fault with details in the coming days and did not promise full support for the entire spending package. "I'm pleased with the work of the Legislature," Schweitzer said. "This wasn't easy for anyone." About $8 billion in federal and state money flows through the main state budget. Spending is up about 1.5 percent in each of the two budget years House Bill 2 covers. Republican negotiators came out pleased the final package maintains projected reserves in the state's main account of about $262 million, in addition to another $100 million of reserves for forest fires, Medicaid caseload growth and other potential emergencies. Democrats are happy they were able to implement the voter- approved expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program, get increases of 3 percent each year for education spending and allocate federal stimulus funds the way they wanted. The stimulus package spends about $900 million in federal money, most of it routed by Congress to specific areas like road and bridge construction. Lawmakers were able to set their own priorities with some of it and used it to backfill education and state government as well as buoy local infrastrucTure spending. Rep. Llew Jones, a Conrad Republican known as a dealmaker, played a key role in negotiating the final product. "On the Republican side of the aisle we felt it was as conservative a budget as we could get in this mix," Jones said. The spending bills needed all the support they could get. House Bill 645, which allocates the stimulus money, only cleared the House on a 51-49 vote and the Senate on a 34-16 vote. House Bill 2, the main budget, cleared the House on a 56-44 vote and the Senate on a 27-23 vote. Critics came at the final package from the left and the right. Conservatives said it still spends too much money, creates new government entitlements by endorsing the Initiative 155 expansion of CHIP, and does not adequately take into account how far revenues will fall as the recession hits state tax collections. They argue a special session will likely be needed to further cut the budget. "This is not going to work. We are going to be back here," said Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor. But Senate Republican leaders, who control the chamber by a 27-23 margin, backed the plan as the best compromise they could reach. They negotiated primarily with House Democrats, who were running a working majority in a chamber split 50-50. The Republican leaders in the House opposed the spending plan altogether, and didn't really have a seat at the table negotiating budget matters in recent days. "We are still spending a big pile of money," House Republican Leader Scott Sales of Bozeman said of his opposition to the spending plans. Some Democrats, too, voted against the bill. Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, said the measure goes too far by imposing a 7 percent "vacancy savings" not filling a state job when someone leaves or retires on top of across-the-board cuts to some state agencies. She said lawmakers should be boosting state employment. "I think they are especially important jobs because they are the people that provide services to those most impacted by the recession," Kaufmann argued. And some who voted for it offered lukewarm support. Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, led negotiations from the Senate side and said he' s not sure Republicans were able to do enough to restrict state spending. He also worried the recession would eat through projected reserves that are unordinarily large. But Bales said the budget was "the best product for today, not knowing what tomorrow will bring." Even though it took the full 90 days to reach a budget compromise, lawmakers were pleased the session ended normally and far more amicably than two years ago when bitter partisanship led to a failed budget process and a special session. House Speaker Bob Bergren said he aimed at the start to be the speaker for both Democrats and Republicans, hoping to quell the rancor of two years ago. "I hope I have earned that title on Day 90, that I was truly the speaker of the House," Bergren told his colleagues on the floor.