Short video conference attended by Jergeson, Warburton

A legislative video conference went short in Havre Tuesday, with two legislators attending from Helena and about six people attending at the Robins School Administration building here.

"You guys did such a good job Thursday night (during the local meeting) I guess nobody felt they needed to be here today," said Debbie Vandeberg, executive director of the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce that sponsors the Tuesday video conferences along with Havre Public Schools.

The previous video conferences this session have pretty well filled the room used in Robins School, with 10 to 20 or more people usually attending.

Sen. Greg Jergeson, D-Chinook, welcomed Rep. Wendy Warburton, R-Chinook, to the video conference. Warburton has been excused for part of the session while she spends time with her fianceé, who has been dealing with health issues.

"I want to welcome Wendy back … ," Jergeson said. "We've been thinking of you and praying for you."

Warburton made apologies for Rep. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, who Warburton said could not attend the video conference because out-of-state relatives were visiting her Tuesday.

Jergeson thanked Hansen and Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, who also could not attend Tuesday's video conference, for joining him at a meeting with consituents held in Havre last Thursday.

He added that smaller communities like Havre seem to have a better turnout for those kinds of events than the larger towns.

About 50 people attended the session in Havre, listening to and questioning the three lawmakers.

"Although not everybody in the crowd agreed with everything each one of us has ever done, it was a good and productive session … ," he said. "I do appreciate the level of interest on the part of our constituents."

He said the Legislature got busy right away when it got back from its break for general bills to be transmitted from one chamber to the other.

The Senate Taxation Committee held a morning-long session on one bill Tuesday, Senate Bill 295 introduced by Sen. Christine Kaufman, D-Helena, to end the oil and gas tax holiday that delays the state collecting revenue from new production.

Jergeson said it was a productive hearing, with interesting information from both proponents and opponents.

He said one interesting comment was from a representative of Continental Oil who said that if oil went to $200 a barrel, the companies still would be drilling in North Dakota, not Montana.

Warburton said she thinks more needs to be done to make the state more business-friendly, especially in the area of the Bakken.

Richard Cronk, chair of the Republican Central Committee in Blaine County, asked about a proposal from Gov. Steve Bullock to require agencies to pay more into retirement plans as a way to stave off future shortfalls in pensions for government employees.

He asked Jergeson what that proposal would mean to local areas, like Blaine County.

Jergeson said the pensions are different plans for different areas — teachers have one, while city or government workers have another, he said.

The best way to find out local impacts would be to ask the local jurisdictions, he said, like the Chinook or Harlem schools or the city or county government, and he has not had the opportunity to do that as yet, Jergeson added.