Montana Legislative Information
2011 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
CLOSE OUT REPORT
The final week of the 2011 Legislature appears to be upon us. After a four day break, the Legislature returns Tuesday (4-26) to finish off its remaining business, namely the state budget bill (HB 2). As you may have read Republican leadership and the Governor reached a deal on the budget over the weekend. As agreed to, the budget reduces state government spending by about 6 percent over the next biennium as compared to the last 2-year period. The bill also sets aside about $200 million in ‘emergency’ spending for needs that may arise during the coming 2-year period.
In addition, it appears a deal was reached on the state school funding formula. The Legislature and the Governor have agreed to take roughly $11 million from school districts that are the beneficiaries of oil-and-gas revenues, namely those in the far Eastern part of our state, and to distribute those monies statewide. Overall, schools will see about a 1.73% increase in state-supported funding over the next two years.
Further, the Legislature will take up legislation this week to give state employees a pay raise, and will also vote on a bill (HB439) to allow for bonds to be issue to pay for new state buildings. This latter bill would authorize about $98 million in bonding for education, health, and cultural buildings around the state – including a new College of Technology building at the University of Montana and a new Historical Society building in Helena. The bill has a trigger which says it can only be put into effect if state revenues exceed the estimate for HB 2 by $35M. Because the bill would affect state indebtedness, the constitution requires a 2/3 majority vote of each chamber. It passed the House last Wednesday 53-47, which is short of the 2/3 needed.
The Legislature will also take up some form of marijuana regulation. The Governor has vetoed HB 161, sponsored by Speaker M. Milburn (R-Cascade), which would have repealed the Medical Marijuana Act. One bill is still alive. That bill is SB 423 by Sen. J. Essmann (R-Billings). It originally proposed an extensive licensing and control system under the supervision of the PSC. When that bill got to the House, most of the bill was stripped out and replaced with a restrictive version of a House bill that earlier died in committee. That version limited users to one provider with no cash sale. Those amendments were rejected by the Senate and so SB 423 was sent to Free Conference committee. A Free Conference committee can rewrite anything in the bill, as long as it fits in the original title of the bill. The committee is made up of three Senators (two R and one D) and three House Representatives (two R and one D). I expect they will arrive at something more like the House version because it is simpler and more restrictive.
I expect the Legislature will adjourn sine die on Thursday.
Remember, individual bills can be tracked and committee hearing schedules can be found at www.leg.mt.gov. You can call a legislator by dialing 444-4800, and leaving a message.
Turning now to the issue we worked together on this session.
As you will recall, SB 185, the bill to abolish the death penalty and replace it with the penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole, was tabled in the House Judiciary Committee on March 18th. This was the third legislative session in a row where ‘our’ bill died in the House Judiciary Committee. Although the actions of the majority of the members of that Committee in killing-off SB 185 were disappointing, the Coalition was always aware that our biggest hurdle was House Judiciary. And, unfortunately, despite extensive efforts on the part of the Coalition members to get enough freshman members to vote with us, the only Republican on the Committee to vote with us was Liz Bangerter of Helena, representing HD 80.
After SB 185 was voted down by the Judiciary Committee, and after extensive discussion among the Coalition members, it was decided not to try to “blast” the bill out of Committee and onto the House Floor for consideration. There was agreement among the partners that such an action would not prove to be beneficial over the long term for either our supports in the Legislature or for our future efforts to end the use of the death penalty in Montana. For example, there was concern about putting this year’s freshman members on record as opposing the death penalty repeal when, in reality, many of those members support ending the death penalty but do not support subverting the legislative process by using procedural tactics, such as blast motions, to move legislation.
Once SB 185 was killed in Committee, there was some talk about, and consideration of, supporting a bill that would have required an interim legislative committee to study, compare, and report back the costs associated with capital and non-capital cases in Montana. Although the Coalition did not actively support such legislation, we did believe that, if enacted, the study bill would have been both helpful and informative to Montana’s public policy makers on determining the merits of death penalty repeal legislation and efforts. Unfortunately, that draft bill was never introduced after the Montana Association of Counties and the Montana County Attorneys Associations raised concerns with the proposed bill. So, when the decision was made around the second week of April to not introduce LC0805 (the cost study bill), the Coalition’s legislative efforts to end the death penalty in Montana ended for the 2011 session.
Now that the 2011 session is, for all intents and purposes, concluded, it is my belief that the Coalition’s efforts were an overall success, despite not having a successful outcome in terms of passing SB185 out of the Legislature and on to the Governor’s desk. By this I mean, we were successful in the following:
· SB 185 passed out of a Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee with the support of Senator Hinkle, a Senator who had not previously voted with us. This vote was a great success because several members of the Republican leadership sought (unsuccessfully) to kill our bill at this point in the process;
· SB 185 passed out of the Republican-controlled Senate, with the support (for the first time) of every member of the Democratic Party, and with the support of three Republicans. Those Republicans being: Senator Carmine Mowbray, Senator Don Steinbeisser, Senator Jim Shockley, and Senator Ryan Zinke. It is important to note that, to the best of my knowledge, this vote marks one of the few instances in the United States where a death penalty abolition bill passed out of a Republican-controlled legislative chamber;
· We had two great Committee (one in the House, one in the Senate) hearings on the merits of SB185. These hearings demonstrated the broad support in Montana for repealing the death penalty. What was particularly uplifting about these hearings was the support provided by victim family members and from persons who worked previously in and around the death penalty process. These hearings demonstrated also that repealing the death penalty is a bipartisan issue, and goes beyond Party labels;
· MAC’s membership made an astonishing number of phone calls and emails to legislators in support of SB 185. Personally, I’ve never been associated with an issue that generated more legislative contacts than this issue, which is a real testament to the strong belief and faith in our position to end state-sanctioned killing;
· MAC held and had a tremendously successful day at the Legislature in January. The Capital was full of persons advocating on behalf of our cause, and, as a result of the contacts made by MAC’s members with Legislators, the Coalition received valuable insight in the positions/feelings of a number of legislators on the merits of SB185;
· MAC held a legislative reception in early February, an event which allowed legislators to get to know the MAC staff and lobbyist in a more one-to-one basis;
· The Coalition received support for SB185 from a number of members who are closely associated with the Tea Party movement. These members, who were generally freshman members of the House, oppose the use of the death penalty due to costs concerns and due to concerns with the power of government to take life, particularly innocent life; and,
· Most important, the abolition coalition made a number of new friends as a result of our efforts during the 2011 legislative session. Not only did we make new friends and find supporters among this year’s large Republican freshman class, which such working relationships will prove fruitful in future legislative sessions, but also MAC saw the number of ‘outside’ groups that favor our good-government position swell. At the same time, the number of vocal opponents dwindled this year. I think that bodes well for future legislative success on efforts to repeal Montana’s death penalty.
If you have not already done so, please take a moment to drop a note of support to Senator Dave Wanzenried (D-Missoula) and Representative Steve Gibson (R-E.Helena) for being the primary sponsors of SB 185. In particular, please take a moment to thank Senator Wanzenried for the time and effort he put in to be both amazingly knowledgeable of the death penalty issue and to carry the cause forward.
With the end of the 2011 Legislature, so, too, concludes the bulk of my legislative work on behalf of MAC. I have discussed with Pam and Kendra the need for MAC’s membership to keep an eye on and to be present during the Interim Committee legislative process as those Committees begin their respective work later this year and into the spring and summer of 2012. Given the progress being made on this issue, I recommend that MAC’s membership continue being active. This includes, but is not limited to, talking to your legislator(s) about his or her position on SB185 once the session is over, working with the Coalition to hold abolition events in your hometown(s) during the interim period, and engaging in letter to the editor campaigns. After all, convincing your neighbors and your communities on the fact that repealing Montana’s death penalty is good public policy is what, ultimately, will lead to the death of the death penalty.
You can be assured that the 2013 Montana Legislature will once again take up the death penalty repeal issue. The success of that effort in 2013 will depend, much as it did in 2011, on the outcomes of the November 2012 elections. As we have seen from the past two election cycles, it is difficult to predict the outcome of elections. As you, the reader, likely knows, Montana will have a new Governor in 2013, and, due to the term limits law, the Legislature will once again have high turnover among the persons serving in the body. In light of these facts, we do not know which of our supports will be back in Helena in two years. But, we do know that we can be active and involved.
In closing, I want to thank MAC’s leadership for having the confidence and faith in me to represent MAC’s membership’s interests this legislative session. It has been a real honor to be associated with MAC. Your organization is well-known and well-respected in the halls of the Capitol. Further, it has been a real pleasure to work with the members of the Montana Abolition Coalition. In my 18 or so years of being involved in the legislative process, I have never worked with a more organized and dedicated group of people. I can report faithfully that your interests have been placed in trusted and competent hands. Finally, this has been a growth experience for me. As a result of serving as your lobbyist, I have learned much over these last several months about the use of the death penalty in Montana. Consequently, this experience has strengthened my own belief in the position that the use and application of, the death penalty is just bad public policy.
Respectfully submitted
James E. (Jim) Brown
Lobbyist