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Already down to Helena for the Legislature

Although the session doesn’t start until January, this past week, I was in Helena for the legislative caucus elections. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity last term to be involved in this part of the procedure. It was interesting to see how the process worked. The leadership has pretty much stayed the same as it was the last session. At this point, it looks like my committees will stay the same: Tax, Education and Cultural Resources, and Energy and Telecommunications. It was good to see the staff and legislators who I’ll be working with in the next few months.

While in Helena, I attended the Montana Invasive Species Summit. I had the opportunity to introduce myself and discuss a little of what we’ve been dealing with at Lake Elwell and the zebra mussels. I was happy to see the weed folks collaborating with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Included in the marketing materials was a life-sized poster of my neighbor, Lance McDowell, who was quoted as saying, “From what I’ve seen, weeds can crowd out anything, even your way of life.” A new invasive species challenge for Montana is feral pigs, which have been making their way into the state. This an issue I am somewhat familiar with as it has been a problem plaguing my brother’s state of Oklahoma for some time.

Fortunately, the house I lived in last term is available again this session, which will start Jan. 7, 2019. I plan on being there by Jan. 4 to attend training. The good news is that this year Judy is retired so she will be spending more time in Helena with me, probably on a part-time basis, as she is quite involved in our local community. Although, she has looked into the opportunity to do some volunteering with Legislative Services. I imagine she will keep busy no matter where she stays.

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State Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, can be emailed at [email protected]/.

 

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