Some good, some bad in 2007 Legislature

By Janna Taylor

HD 11

Did your income increase 22 percent last year? That is the increase in state spending for the next two years. Add the 16 percent increase from the 2005 legislative session and we have a 38 percent increase.

No one I know has that kind of money increases coming in. Many people are on a fixed income. I wish the state was on a fixed income. You now have about 500 more state employees as well.

This budget is not sustainable. In two years the agencies will ask for supplemental funding. The governor’s budget director pointed to several areas that were under funded, the new public defender’s office foremost.

Just like two years ago when we didn’t fix school funding, I am not proud of this legislative session. I refuse to do any spin and I ask you to think carefully when you hear any comments like “we got it done.”

First of all, the one-time $400 property tax refund for every homeowner totals $96 million. It costs $1 million to provide and requires 58 temporary employees. They will have to send out three mailers.

The first one is to verify eligibility. The second is the check. The third is a 1099 form so that you can add the $400 to your taxes. Income tax revenue from that is estimated to be $4 million.

The current school-funding bill will raise local property taxes about the same amount as the small permanent property tax decrease that the Republicans were able to negotiate. That number is about $22 million. Not much with a $1.3 billion surplus.

Total K-12 school funding, about $200 million, is up about 16 percent. Call me if you want more details. Higher Education received a 10 percent increase up to about $31 million. Initially overlooked, Community Colleges were included in the final budget.

Too bad the legislature did not pass the Republican plan for schools. It had more property tax decreases and more funds. All day kindergarten was possible in a flex fund and really optional.

I was unable to get money for the senior trust fund. I had a petition written to expand the governor’s call to include this, but no Democrat would sign it. I attended their caucus and they had a policy decision to not sign any petitions for bills not in the call.

If elected, I’ll try again in the next session. A trust fund that does nothing is a slap in the face to our seniors and I voted against it for that reason. It is only worthwhile if it can accomplish something.

I’ve had several questions about the cost of a special session. Total is about $38,000 per day. We did not need to fund those five days because we had left over money from the regular session.

Of course, there were many positives things done during the 2007 session. Passing Jessica’s Law was done in a truly non-partisan fashion. We lowered unemployment taxes for employers, paid for all future water adjudication costs, decreased the retirement account liabilities, and limited eminent domain.

We also were able to stop some of the horrendous tax policies our Department of Revenue requested. This was not about tax cheats, but about giving Montana tax policies that no other state would even consider. Plum Creek seems to be number one on the DOR’s list.

I have been appointed to the Interim Finance Committee. That is really an honor. I voted for term limits like most Montanans, but here is where I see the down side. I have studied the budget for four years. There is no way I would call myself an expert. Yet other legislators come to me with questions and for explanations.

It is a privilege to work for the citizens of House District 11. I tried to answer all calls, emails and letters. Regrettably, I fell behind during the special session. Please contact me at 849-6096 or email me at jannataylor@montana.com