The 64th session of the Montana Legislature adjourned last Tuesday having passed some significant legislation. But its work is not yet done – not by a long shot.
To the utter amazement and dismay of local government leaders throughout Montana, legislators neglected to approve any major infrastructure funding for the biennium. The last two bills left standing – Senate Bill 416 and House Bill 402, which both had strong bipartisan support – died Tuesday, the same day legislators voted to close the session early.
Now, dozens of Montana communities are left wondering how to pay for essential water, sewer and street projects, some of which have already been started.
The pain is particularly acute in eastern Montana, where booming oil and gas development have overburdened existing infrastructure and where local taxpayers are picking up more of the tab. The mayor of Culbertson reports that garbage, sewer and water now cost the average household $100 a month and will have to increase to pay for a sewer system expansion.
But not all local governments are willing to further raise taxes on their residents, and the frustration is not confined to eastern Montana. SB416 would have provided grants and loans for local projects across the state, including a veterans home in Silver Bow County, a science building on the University of Montana campus, and a renovation and expansion of the Montana Historical Society building in Helena.
In all, it would have provided for $150 million in infrastructure and building projects through a mix of cash and bonding authority. The inclusion of bonding as a funding mechanism proved to be a sticking point that some House Republicans just couldn’t get past. Others couldn’t stomach the scope of the bigger projects, such as the $25 million for the Montana Historical Society.
The result was that, although SB416 was readily approved by the Senate, negotiations in the House took longer than expected and ultimately didn’t earn the necessary support from a majority of Republican representatives. The irony is that both bills were introduced by Republicans: SB416 by Sen. John Brenden of Scobey, and HB402 by House Speaker Austin Knudsen of Culbertson.
Both legislators – and, we would venture to guess, most of their fellow elected officials – fully understand the consequences of failing to provide state funding for critical infrastructure projects. It’s unfortunate that they were unable to convince those voting against these bills of their value – or of the value of negotiation.
Both the House and Senate bills were subjected to torturous but fruitful negotiation. It’s true that neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted at the end of those negotiations, but it’s also true that all parties were satisfied by the concessions. SB416, for instance, was trimmed down from $300 million worth of projects.
In a visit with the Missoulian editorial board Wednesday, Gov. Steve Bullock noted that while he was disappointed that some key initiatives he had supported didn’t survive the legislature – including, most notably, his Early Edge preschool program – he was astounded that infrastructure funding with bipartisan support and plenty of votes in early readings failed to pass at the final hour.
That is indeed cause for concern. But even more concerning is that legislators would then vote to adjourn. They should have stayed and continued to work on infrastructure funding until they had a bill with enough support to pass.
Negotiation and compromised marked nearly every major success of the 2015 legislative session. It was key to success of the hard-fought Medicaid expansion bill, water rights compact and campaign finance reform. And it was certainly the foundation of less controversial increases in funding for public schools and expansions in community-based mental health programs.
Now, some Republican legislators are blaming Bullock for refusing to continue negotiations, and Bullock’s office is likewise pointing the finger at the 34 House Republicans who “refused to negotiate to find common ground.” But Montanans are not interested in buck-passing or political maneuvering.
Nor do we want to wait for another two years while our streets and sewer system strain to hold up under heavier demand. Now that the state’s legislators have returned home to their communities, they will be in a position to see for themselves the results of their inaction. Their constituents back home ought to take pains to point out their local infrastructure needs – and tell legislators we expect them to return to Helena immediately to approve infrastructure funding for Montana.
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