Working in the home stretch

When we first came to the 68th session in January, the goal was all about removing red tape and clutter from our laws. Having gotten to the final stretch, I can only hope we have removed more clutter than we added.

There have been 1,644 bills introduced as of this past week, which is 331 more bills than last session, and short of the record set in the 1973 session (2,211 bills). As some of you may remember, 1972 was when the Montana Constitution was last updated. It was followed by a big rewriting of many outdated laws. At that time, there were no computers. I find it hard to believe how all the work got done without the technology we have today. It is estimated that from January to now, our legislative staff have put in 3,600 hours over and above their 40-hour work weeks. My hat goes off to the 1973 staff as it does to the 2023 staff whom we have worked with every day.

As the final 2023 House and Senate bills are passing, many have run into a bit of conflict or some have parallel language. This leaves the rigorous job of aligning the bills and coordinating the language. A simple example is where “shall” or “must” are wanted by one bill sponsor and another sponsor wants the other. Each of those words have specific legal connotations and expectations. Another example may be deciding the date in which a law should go into effect. The date could impact the current year’s budget, so one sponsor wants to wait and the other does not.

I have had plenty of input from opponents (some educators) and a few adamant proponents on the charter school bills that came through the Education Committee. While both of those bills did pass out of our committee, I was a no vote in committee. My family is full of public school teachers, who attended college and are certified to teach to standards and developed curriculum, for one thing. I also feel local school boards should be elected by all taxpayers, not just students’ parents, which would be allowed in one of the bills. The other bill I opposed does not require certified educators to teach at charter schools, which in my opinion may be a problem. At present, school boards are allowed to form a charter school within local district. Bozeman and Libby each started such systems.

As always, stay safe!

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