Budget balanced, sent on for Senate approval
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Happy spring to everyone. Hopefully this means we will start seeing some green in the fields.
Here in Helena the House of Representatives voted last Monday on the state budget, HB2. The budget we sent on to the Senate is balanced and contains a 6 percent decrease from the previous sessions. The revenue estimate for the next two years that came out on Thursday was $35 million less than what was projected in February. We have to create a budget that matches that figure and it involved a lot of difficult decisions. Most everyone I have heard from believes we need to have a balanced budget but doesn’t want any funds taken away from “their” program. I voted against over $190 million dollars of amendments that would actually increase the budget and also over $36 million in cuts that didn’t make it into the bill.
This will be another busy week as we focus on education with bullying, teacher tenure, and charter schools in the forefront. There is a very good bill that I hope to take to the house floor that allows for a self-funded health insurance pool for all students who are in the Montana University system. This should reduce health care cost for college students in our state. At present, only employee pools are allowed.
In the House Agriculture committee we are looking to save the Alfalfa Seed Board and the Mint Committee. Another bill I hope to take to the house floor will allow for reciprocal licensure for nurseries in Montana with all other states. This will allow nursery and plant vendors to sell or distribute stock in other states without the need of paying for licenses in other states they want to do business in.
As always, my phone and email are open to you. Please call me at (406) 253-9724 or email me at dansalomon12@gmail.com. If you have the opportunity to be in Helena and want to talk, please be sure to look me up.
