Legislators talk school funding, Medicaid, retirement, drinking laws

Legislators talk school funding, Medicaid, retirement, drinking laws

Tim Leeds

Rep. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, and Sen. Rowlie Hutton, R-Havre, covered a plethora of issues from Helena during a legislative video conference held in Havre Wednesday.

The first topic, raised by local rancher Ted Solomon, a director of the Montana Land And Mineral Owners Association, was a proposal by Gov. Brian Schweitzer to take oil and gas revenues now collected by school districts in the counties where it is generated and put them it in a state fund for all school districts.

"I'm a little concerned," Solomon said.

He said that the eastern counties tend to have much higher expenses per taxpayer due to the size of the counties and their low population.

"We're already taxed real heavy," he said.

The money taken away should be used to pay for infrastructure improvements, including for schools, Solomon said.

"(That's) what we need to do if we're going to have more development in eastern Montana," he added.

Hansen said Sen. LLew Jones, R-Conrad, has put forth a different bill on the issue.

"Basically, it kind of follows what the governor is proposing and takes some of the money from those eastern counties and the oil and gas counties, but it does it differently and better," Hansen said.

Jones' bill, she said, would give the districts where the revenue is generated a base funding, with maybe 10 percent or 20 percent going to the state for a statewide education fund. Some districts would keep all of their oil and gas revenues, depending on the amount of the revenues and what are the district's needs.

Havre Public Schools District Clerk Zella Witter said she, along with clerks and superintendents from a number of districts, met with Jones this week.

"Really, his proposal is very feasible and much, much better than the governor's," she said. "The governor's is disastrous to us."

Hansen said Jones' proposal is not the only alternative. Rep. Wayne Stahl, R-Saco, and the Office of Public Instruction also are drafting school funding proposals.

"Senator Jones' bill is looking very good, but we don't want to write off Representative Stahl's bill because it might look even better," she said. "We're not saying that Llew's bill is the only answer, but we also are very aware that its a much better answer (than the governor's)."

Hutton also addressed a question from Christen Obresley about a bill that would eliminate a statutory yearly increase in Medicaid reimbursements to doctors.

The bill essentially enacts a policy Schweitzer put in during the interim that overturned a 2007 action of the Legislature to give 6 percent annual increases, Hutton said.

"So, all of a sudden, the doctors and everybody negotiated in good faith with the legislators but during the interim, the governor takes that away based on his decision on that," Hutton said.

He said the cut will lead to fewer doctors accepting Medicaid, especially in rural areas like the Hi-Line, and to more people crowding into emergency rooms.

"A woman gets pregnant out of wedlock and so they decide to wait (for medical care) until after the baby is born so Medicaid will pay for that baby," Hutton said. "We have that service we all love, and doctors that we all love, and, for some reason, the governor chose to take that increase away from them and what this Senate bill would do is somehow back that up."

He and Hansen also addressed a question from Witter about a proposed cut in the school districts' retirement reserve.

"That would be really bad for us … ," she said. "(If) we don't get our money, we'd be sitting in the red all the time, and that's not good for any school district."

Hutton said the deficit in the state retirement plan is something "that nobody wants to talk about ... that the retirement is three billion in the hole. That's with a 'B.'"

He and Hansen said the legislators on the committees that deal with that issue are working on the problem.

"I don't even know if they have any bills because I'm not sure if they've figured out what the bills need to say, yet," Hansen said, "but we have a big hole with the retirement, and we, right now, don't know how to fix it."

She said the problem covers all state retirement programs including the Public Employees Retirement System, the teachers retirement, the firefighters retirement, the police retirement and the sheriff's office retirement plans.

Hutton also said bills dealing with underage drinking and minor drinking are coming fast. One bill which unanimously passed out of committee and will go to the Senate floor will require that people convicted of minor in possession of alcohol lose their drivers license privileges until they are 18.

Hansen said if people have comments or concerns on those bills, they need to let their legislators know quickly — "they're coming pretty fast."

Rep. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, and Sen. Rowlie Hutton, R-Havre, covered a plethora of issues from Helena during a legislative video conference held in Havre Wednesday.

The first topic, raised by local rancher Ted Solomon, a director of the Montana Land And Mineral Owners Association, was a proposal by Gov. Brian Schweitzer to take oil and gas revenues now collected by school districts in the counties where it is generated and put them it in a state fund for all school districts.

"I'm a little concerned," Solomon said.

He said that the eastern counties tend to have much higher expenses per taxpayer due to the size of the counties and their low population.

"We're already taxed real heavy," he said.

The money taken away should be used to pay for infrastructure improvements, including for schools, Solomon said.

"(That's) what we need to do if we're going to have more development in eastern Montana," he added.

Hansen said Sen. LLew Jones, R-Conrad, has put forth a different bill on the issue.

"Basically, it kind of follows what the governor is proposing and takes some of the money from those eastern counties and the oil and gas counties, but it does it differently and better," Hansen said.

Jones' bill, she said, would give the districts where the revenue is generated a base funding, with maybe 10 percent or 20 percent going to the state for a statewide education fund. Some districts would keep all of their oil and gas revenues, depending on the amount of the revenues and what are the district's needs.

Havre Public Schools District Clerk Zella Witter said she, along with clerks and superintendents from a number of districts, met with Jones this week.

"Really, his proposal is very feasible and much, much better than the governor's," she said. "The governor's is disastrous to us."

Hansen said Jones' proposal is not the only alternative. Rep. Wayne Stahl, R-Saco, and the Office of Public Instruction also are drafting school funding proposals.

"Senator Jones' bill is looking very good, but we don't want to write off Representative Stahl's bill because it might look even better," she said. "We're not saying that Llew's bill is the only answer, but we also are very aware that its a much better answer (than the governor's)."

Hutton also addressed a question from Christen Obresley about a bill that would eliminate a statutory yearly increase in Medicaid reimbursements to doctors.

The bill essentially enacts a policy Schweitzer put in during the interim that overturned a 2007 action of the Legislature to give 6 percent annual increases, Hutton said.

"So, all of a sudden, the doctors and everybody negotiated in good faith with the legislators but during the interim, the governor takes that away based on his decision on that," Hutton said.

He said the cut will lead to fewer doctors accepting Medicaid, especially in rural areas like the Hi-Line, and to more people crowding into emergency rooms.

"A woman gets pregnant out of wedlock and so they decide to wait (for medical care) until after the baby is born so Medicaid will pay for that baby," Hutton said. "We have that service we all love, and doctors that we all love, and, for some reason, the governor chose to take that increase away from them and what this Senate bill would do is somehow back that up."

He and Hansen also addressed a question from Witter about a proposed cut in the school districts' retirement reserve.

"That would be really bad for us … ," she said. "(If) we don't get our money, we'd be sitting in the red all the time, and that's not good for any school district."

Hutton said the deficit in the state retirement plan is something "that nobody wants to talk about ... that the retirement is three billion in the hole. That's with a 'B.'"

He and Hansen said the legislators on the committees that deal with that issue are working on the problem.

"I don't even know if they have any bills because I'm not sure if they've figured out what the bills need to say, yet," Hansen said, "but we have a big hole with the retirement, and we, right now, don't know how to fix it."

She said the problem covers all state retirement programs including the Public Employees Retirement System, the teachers retirement, the firefighters retirement, the police retirement and the sheriff's office retirement plans.

Hutton also said bills dealing with underage drinking and minor drinking are coming fast. One bill which unanimously passed out of committee and will go to the Senate floor will require that people convicted of minor in possession of alcohol lose their drivers license privileges until they are 18.

Hansen said if people have comments or concerns on those bills, they need to let their legislators know quickly — "they're coming pretty fast."