Legislature auditing agency spending

| February 23, 2017 4:06 PM

As I stated last week, the hustle and bustle in the House has picked up on pace. We had a House session this saturday as did the Senate, being the first Saturday of many to come.

We are still reviewing expenditure bills and the press is saying we are cutting spending to many favorite programs. I must assure you that a priority list is going to control the spending and that list is trying to avoid cuts to the very important education and social programs.

There is also an effort to avoid increased expenses to most programs. We keep seeing that there is a big shortage in revenue, more than previously reported. There are some audits going on that show some agencies gave unauthorized raises since the last legislative session and that spending was not all authorized. These agencies are being questioned about these discrepancies.

The infrastructure fix is one topic looking for solutions. There are options being considered in discussion to pay for the needed work. A gas tax is one discussion. Bonding is another discussion. A combination of both is also being talked about. Actions on these discussions will not be worked out for possibly a month or more.

One topic of interest for residents of western Montana is a hearing tentavely scheduled for Friday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. in room 172 in the Capitol. This hearing is in front of the Natural Resources Committee and deals with a House Joint Grizzly Bear Resolution. The idea behind this resolution is to delist the Grizzly Bear, which could have an enormous positive effect on the economics of western Montana.

Timber sales, forest plan revisions, and mining possibilities would all be effected by this resolution, which would give management of Montana’s Grizzly Bear populations back to the state of Montana. If you want to testify in person or in writing, please be there or respond to Montana State House of Representatives Natural Resource Committee.

Please feel to email me at DenleyLogeHD14@gmail.com or call 406-544-522.

– Representative Denley M. Loge (R-Saint Regis)