Highlights from Helena - Feb. 28

From Sen. Janna Taylor

In 1995 the state of Montana had 164,979 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Now we have 141,697. That is a loss of 24,282, but we are up 1500 students since 2010.

We spend close to $11,000 per student in an unbelievably complex formula. There are few people in the state of Montana the truly understand education funding and Senator Llew Jones (R. Conrad) is one of them.  He sponsored Senate Bill 175, a 47 page piece of legislation coupled with a 14 page fiscal note, to fund schools, use oil and gas money, reduce property taxes, and increase student achievement.

I believe education is extremely important to our state. Our children are our future and the better we prepare them to enter the workforce the more likely they will be to succeed and help our state prosper and grow.

SB 175 was called a consensus agreement because everyone in the education community could agree on the bill. There was some money for everyone, large schools, small schools, teachers, administrators.

Even though I respect Senator Jones for his work on funding Montana’s education system, I had to oppose his bill.  I was not comfortable with the long term impacts on our state. It spends entirely too much money in a time that Montana needs to be extra careful with how we handle the state checkbook.  It spends $80 million over the next fiscal year alone.

It ties education funding to natural resource development, which on paper seems like a great idea, but fails to realize the volatility of the natural resource market.  If oil drops below $60 a barrel, Bakken oil extraction is no longer profitable, leaving the state with a serious education funding gap. Even in the last few years, oil has fluctuated from $120 to $30 per barrel.

The property tax relief in the bill is nothing more than a pure gimmick that does not bring real, lasting tax breaks to families across Montana. A Polson residence was used as an example. Property worth about $300,000 would see a about a $34 reduction in their tax bill.

How we spend our money is important. Like the entire state of Montana, many of our public employees and our teachers are baby boomers and will be retiring soon.  The unfunded liability in our pension system is a huge problem. Will there be enough money to pay for teacher’s retirement?  Can we pay for Medicaid expansion, employee raises, project bonding, the governor’s property tax rebate?  Not to mention what happens if the fed sequestration cuts our funds.

Does the governor support SB 175? There is a rumor that just like in 2005 when the governor counted on Republicans to kill K-ship (I was in that meeting) the executive branch may not want this bill.

My legislative priority this session is to focus on creating a fiscally sound budget that does not spend more than we bring in, leaves a little extra in the pot and protects our state’s finances so future generations are not saddled with debt.  

There is a lot more to the issue, student spending comparisons with other states, achievement scores, jobs for our citizens… Please keep the comments coming. Leave me a message at 406-444-4800, my cell is 253-8766, and my email is jannataylor@montana.com. Never forget that I work for you.

From Rep. Greg Hertz

For the last month the House Education Committee, which I am a member of, has been discussing school choice bills. I did support three of those bills and opposed two of them. I supported a tax credit bill which would allow an income tax credit for up to $550 per child for the expense of sending a child to a private school.  This bill should have been heard in the House taxation committee as it was tax related. The various school associations opposed this bill saying that it would take funds away from public schools. These credits will be paid for out of the general fund and not from school funds. You could argue that indirectly it may reduce school funding but you could say that about any tax credit or general fund appropriation.  I also supported a charter school bill and a special education savings account bill. Both of these bills could be very beneficial to some students and would not have had a major impact on school funding. The two bills I did oppose would have both had a very major impact on direct school funding and would have made it very hard for some of our existing schools to manage their budgets.

What has frustrated me the most is that every school choice bill is always opposed by all of the educational organizations (OPI, MEA-MFT, School Administrators Association, Rural School Association, School Board Association, etc.). These organizations do not seem to want to come to the table and discuss or draft a bill that all parties can work with and that could benefit our children. When school choice is mentioned it is like we are walking off the edge of a flat world or exploring the moon for the first time. Many states have already tried charter schools or other school choice programs, and many have achieved successful outcomes.  Montana has some of the best public schools in the country. If we did allow charter schools we would likely only see a few statewide.

 This school choice discussion has been going on for many years with the school associations always saying no. At some point in time Montana may have both a legislature and a Governor who will support school choice and then the school associations may not have any input at the table. I would hate to see that happen. What we need to do is work together and pass school choice laws that will work. We could even try a pilot charter school. The school associations will say that we already have charter school options along with alternative schools. Yes we do but we need to make changes to those rules and laws so they meet the needs of all of our students and we need the help of the school associations to do that. It is time we get this done right and come together for a solution to allow more flexibility in education and options that will benefit Montana students, our communities and our economy.

As always, you don’t have to come all the way to the Capitol to participate.

If you have any input about specific bills, please don’t hesitate to contact me by email at greghertz11@gmail.com or call or text me at 406-253-9505. You can also leave messages for individual legislators or committees by calling 406-444-4800. For more information on Montana’s 63rd legislative session, visit the Legislature’s website at www.leg.mt.gov