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As a fiscal conservative, I neglected to mention that the fantastic Blackhawk trip my sub-committee took last week did not cost the taxpayers any additional money. We were part of an Army National Guard required training exercise. There were two Blackhawks flying in tandem, each with an instructor and a trainee getting more hours. I got to see lots of trees from what seemed like a few inches above the top branch. We also had several briefings from the Air National Guard.
As you may know, the F-16s are gone. Montana is now the home of eight C-130 Hercules Transports. Our Air National Guard is being reconfigured and we have new or re-trained pilots and a new hangar in Great Falls. Seven of the big planes are named for the seven largest cities in Montana and one is named Montana.
Besides the many duties of the Army and Air National Guard that most of us are familiar with, they manage the veterans affairs division, vet cemetery program, plus extensive disaster and fire services. As your Senator, I thanked all of the service men and women I met. By the way, one of the C-130 pilots was a female and she flew F-16s in the mid-east conflicts.
Being back on the budgeting committee I get to hear about requests and requirements I asked for many years ago. Our banking review division still does a superb job, but they have too much money left over at the end of each year and the director told the committee I told her that on her first day of work.
One thing I asked for in 2007 was more transparency from our IT director. Did you know that the state checkbook is online? If you go to transparency.mt.gov you can search for piles of stuff. Montana wins awards in tech circles for this website.
I have already received tons of emails and calls and it has become impossible to answer all of them; however, I do read them all. I try to respond to all the comments from our local area. SB 54 is good example. This bill would allow the release of purchase price for real estate. Our Department of Revenue wants this bill. Most Montanans would rather keep the sales price confidential. Most real estate agents agree with the citizens and are against SB 54. Because I am on the Senate Taxation Committee I have received at least 100 emails from them. Many are identical. There is some kind of pre-written text they can email to each committee member.
Most appraisers are in favor of this bill. As you might remember from six years ago, your property is appraised by comparison with at least five comparable sales in your area. If you want to know these, you have to appeal your appraised value and sign a confidentiality agreement.
My cell phone, (406) 252-8766, is usually off but you can leave me a message at (406) 444-4800. My email address is sen.janna.taylor@mt.gov and my website is still up at jannataylor.com. Never forget that I work for you.
