Legislature winding down in Helena

The legislative session is drawing to a close. Both the main budget and stimulus bill have been transmitted to the Senate. They're reducing state spending to keep up with the declining estimates of Montana's tax revenue in these difficult economic times.

Now, the House of Representatives is dealing mostly with Senate bills that they've sent over to the House to vote on. There are also some House bills that we sent to the Senate and that came back with amendments which we have to approve now.

Sometimes one house of the legislature will change a bill to a different version than what passed the other house. When that happens, the bill goes to a conference committee, where members of both houses of the Legislature hash out the changes to a version they can all accept.

One of those cases is House Bill 228, the bill will ensure that every law abiding citizen has the right to defend himself no matter where he is. It also ensures that if a person presents evidence that a shooting was in defense, the government must treat him as innocent until proven guilty.

We passed it out of the House, but in the Senate they made several changes. The bill then came back to the House and the changes were rejected. The bill now goes to the aforementioned conference committee and will be worked over until both House and Senate agree on a compromise.

Now, as the session draws to a close, we're looking at the redistricting process. Every ten years, the state of Montana changes the legislative districts, which decides who represents what area in the legislature. Frankly, this has been a contentious process. Two Republicans and two Democrats are appointed to a committee and then both settle on another member. The fifth member is supposed to be bi-partisan. If they are not able to decide on a fifth member the Supreme Court decides. Sometimes this process works and sometimes it doesn't. I suppose it depends on your party affiliation. I would hope and surmise that both parties want this process to be fair and open.

Thank you for the many calls and e-mails that you all have sent. I sincerely appreciate your opinions. It is very important to hear from you. At times we may not share the same opinion, but I welcome contradicting opinions as much or more than those that I agree with. It either has the effect of solidifying my positions or causes me to pause.

Contact me via e-mail at sreichner@centurytel.net or by phone at 253-3929.