Rep. Hertz reflects on state budget, session
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POLSON – State Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, took time to reflect last week on the recent biennial legislative session, and said he plans to run for speaker of the House if he’s re-elected in 2018.
Hertz made the comments before a Pachyderm Club meeting on Friday, May 12.
Much of his talk centered around the biennial budget, which went up sixtenths of one percent from the current one.
This is the first budget he’s voted for, Hertz said, noting he voted against previous budgets in 2013 and 2015 that represented increases of 6.95 and 6.9 percent.
Hertz, who as speaker pro tem is the third-ranking Republican in the House, said he was part of a group of some 15 legislators from the House and Senate and governor’s office who negotiated the budget.
“The last two weeks I learned a lot about the budget,” he said, adding that he ruffled a few feathers because he objected to last-minute amendments by some because they hadn’t been subject to a public hearing.
Hertz thinks there is a 60-percent chance the Legislature will be called into a special session in the late fall due to a cash shortage. As of May 10, the state had $181 million in cash, he said, noting that it needs a cushion of around $200 million in cash flow to pay the bills.
This year the Legislature approved SB 261, which creates a budget stabilization fund that can be accessed during revenue shortfalls. Until it is funded, the state’s Budget Director Dan Villa can pull money from the fire fund, which was created by the Legislature in 2013 as a reserve to pay for fighting fires. Some $78 million is in the fire fund, Hertz said, adding that Villa has to make $2 in cuts for every dollar he pulls from it. Once the budget stabilization fund gets funded, assuming the governor signs it, Villa will be required to cut $1 for every $2 he takes out, the opposite ratio used for the fire fund. The bill calls for any excess revenue beyond the expected $15 million to be split between the general and budget stabilization funds.
Hertz was against efforts to pass bonding for infrastructure projects, and noted the Legislature hasn’t approved bonding since 2005.
A nearly $80 million bonding proposal would have resulted in the state paying $40 million in interest charges over 20 years, he said.
He was more supportive of $16.3 million in bonding for K-12 school facilities than he was for most of the other proposed projects.
Hertz’s property tax relief bill, HB 558, passed the House 61-37 and the Senate 37-13 but failed to advance before the Legislature adjourned. By Caleb M. Soptelean Valley Journal
