Education bill could cause vast tax increase

It is now 12:26 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 21. Since before 6 p.m. we Republican senators have been debating Senate Bill 152 with the Democrats on the floor of the Senate. This is Senator Ryan's bill to

define what it means when our Montana Constitution refers to a "basic system of free quality schools."

The substance of the debate is that the Democrats want to define a quality education to be that type of education mandated by the Board of Public Education when they create the accreditation standards. We Republicans want to put the definition into the bill rather than basing it on accreditation standards which are created by an unelected board.

According to a fiscal note created by the Governor's Budget Office, "The cost for meeting the level of service level required by the bill could range between zero and $450 million per year state general fund." Potentially it could raise every tax assessed in Montana by up to 75 percent.

I am pretty sure this bill will pass second reading in the Senate with a vote of 28 to 22. That will include the entire Democrat caucus plus one Republican school teacher who will vote with the Democrats.

My hope is the Republicans in the House of Representatives kill this bill so we can start over and do the job right. We certainly don't have the capability to do that in the Senate.

If this bill would reduce local property taxes and substitute that funding to the state income tax system it would not be a total loss. But it has been amply pointed out during the debate that the Democrats want to significantly increase total funding for Montana's school system.

They are not satisfied that school funding increases have exceeded inflation by $721 million since 1991. This huge increase is despite the fact that during this time our student enrollment has declined.

P.S., at 12:38 a.m. SB152 passed second reading on a 29 to 21 vote. Another Republican joined the school teacher.

Sen. Jerry O'Neil

Dist. 3 Columbia Falls