Legislative Outlook: Senators weigh in
Senators Greg Hertz of Polson and Dan Salomon of Ronan return to Helena next Monday when the 68th session of the Montana Legislature convenes.
Legislators enter the session with an estimated $1.7 billion budget surplus, and both say finding a balance between tax relief and spending priorities will be a major focus.
Greg Hertz: Tax relief a priority
Hertz, who chairs the Senate Taxation Committee, expects property tax relief to be a dominant issue “that will consume much of our attention.”
The senator, who responded to questions via email, also notes that Montana's income-tax revenue has increased significantly during the last two years and accurately projecting future growth will be a challenge. “We probably will not have a good projection until after the legislative session,” he predicts.
Future revenue growth or reduction impacts tax-rate reductions, tax credits and expenditures. “We need to make sure long-term changes to our tax system do not cause budget problems in future years,” he writes.
Hertz also sits on the Education and Cultural Resources, Fish and Game and the Rules committees.
He anticipates that parental rights will be a major topic for the education committee, as well as school funding. “We need to make sure that schools receive additional funds due to the inflationary pressures that we are all facing, along with state support for long-term expenditures,” he writes.
A primary focus of the Fish and Game Committee is “to make Montana residents a priority in enjoying our outdoors.” He notes that non-residents are exerting “significant pressure on our public lands,” which must be balanced “with prioritizing resident use.”
Hertz is in the process of drafting a bill that would require the state to contribute to the cost of enforcing Public Law 280 on the Flathead Reservation. Lake County is in the process of pulling out of the agreement, which has been in place since the 1960s, and enables the county to investigate and prosecute tribal members for felonies on behalf of the state.
“I am in full support of Lake County's resolution to withdraw from PL-280 along with their lawsuit (against the state),” he writes. “The taxpayers of Lake County need to stand together with a unified voice that the state of Montana, who entered into this agreement, has the responsibility of participating in the funding of their agreement between the state and the federal government.”
To contact Hertz during the session, email greg.hertz@legmt.gov or call or text 406-253-9505 (texting is preferable).
Dan Salomon: “We have an opportunity we aren’t going to see but once in a generation”
Salomon has a different take on PL-280. “I’m extremely disappointed it’s come to where it is,” he says. “I think the sides could have gotten together and worked on it.”
He believes it’s unlikely a bill will make it over the finish line that would help the county pay for the expenses it incurs under the agreement. “The ability to pass a bill that funds something in one certain county over the other 55 in the state is almost impossible,” he says.
Salomon enters his fourth term as chair of the Senate Education and Cultural Resources Committee. Among the many issues on the agenda are charter schools, offering more vocational career paths for high school and college students, helping those youngsters who fell behind during COVID make up for that lost year, and finding ways to help starting teachers make a living, especially in rural communities.
He also hopes to craft legislation that would enable smaller school districts to pool their resources and offer more affordable health insurance plans for teachers.
As chair of the Legislative Finance Committee, Salomon says he’s been meeting for the past two years on the state’s budget outlook. He also sits on the Finance and Claims Committee and on Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.
“We have money – lots of it – to the tune of in the billions, so everybody and their dog has a way to spend it,” he says.
“Some want to give all of it back and some, like me, want to look at some issues we’ve had for years, even decades, and try to solve some of them,” he says. “We have an opportunity we aren’t going to see but once in a generation.”
He believes it’s crucial that the Legislature doesn’t put that money into programs that need to be refunded every two years. Instead, he wants to look at one-time-only expenditures that deal with the state’s crumbling mental health system, the prison, the state hospital at Warm Springs, and drug enforcement and addiction.
“They’ll be bringing different types of issues to the forefront,” he says. “Are we going to deal with them now or kick the can down the road?”
Montana’s budget director, Ryan Osmundson, has suggested the state use its surplus to pay off debt – a plan that makes sense to Salomon.
“I’m fully convinced we’re going to give some money back and have some tax relief,” he says. “But we’re not going to give it all back – we’re going to utilize some of it.”
At the same time, legislators face the challenge of “trying to forecast in a time of high inflation, almost recession, where things will be in two years,” he says. “It’s a little fluid right now so we’re making conservative revenue estimates.”
The 2023 session marks Salomon’s eighth year in the Senate and the end of his second term. He also served in the House of Representatives from 2010-2016. Since term limits mandate that state representatives or senators can serve no more than eight years in a 16-year period, his only option after this session would be to run again for the House. Instead, he expects to “ride into the sunset.”
“I’ve done this long enough,” he says. “I’ve been looking at this as my last session for the last year or so and I’m good with that.”
That said, he hopes for some major accomplishments, especially in the education arena. “I’d like to take one last hurrah and see if we can get something done.”
To contact the senator, call or text 406-253-9724 or email dan.salomon@legmt.gov.
