Reichner pushing open, top-two primary
Rep. Scott Reichner, R-Bigfork, didn’t get any major legislation through the recently concluded legislative session, but Montana voters will be able to vote on his open, top-two primary referendum idea next year.
Reicher sponsored HB436, which failed in the House, but a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Alan Olson, R-Roundup, was approved by the Legislature and bypassed Gov. Steve Bullock. It was referred to the 2014 general election ballot for voters to decide.
The idea is to give voters a chance to vote for or against any candidate in the primary, Reichner said. Currently voters have to decide which ballot they want to vote: Democrat or Republican. If the referendum passes, voters would be able to vote for any candidate in the primary and the top two candidates would advance to the general election. The top two candidates could be from any party or the same party.
SB408 was mainly supported by Republican legislators. The view of some is that Republicans would be able to garner more support from Libertarian voters in the general election if the only candidates are a Democrat and Republican.
The way the situation is currently, voters are somewhat disenfranchised in the primary election because they can’t vote for everyone they want, Reichner said. “It becomes more meaningful if you’re able to vote for more options,” he said. “It takes away the spoiler role (in the general election), but we give people the opportunity to compete (in the primary). That’s part of the give-and-take of the bill. There’s no perfect election system. This is not a blue or red state,” he said. “We’re a purple state. It’s an idea. It has merit. Let the people of Montana decide.”
Reichner said that half of the Libertarians he’s talked to support the idea, while half oppose it.
Another referendum that came out of the Legislature this year would move the voter registration deadline from Election Day to the Friday before.
Reichner said that two of the biggest accomplishments for conservatives this year came with passage of the business equipment tax reduction and the rejection of Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act.
Bullock signed the business equipment tax reduction, SB 96, which will eliminate the business equipment tax for 13,000 businesses and reduce the tax for another 1,000 businesses. The bill provides an exemption for the first $100,000 of business equipment.
But Bullock, a Democrat, vetoed other bills important to the GOP, including an income tax simplification bill, SB282, and a bill that would have reduced the tax businesses pay on pollution control equipment mandated by the federal government, HB408. The latter bill passed overwhelmingly in both houses, 32-18 in the Senate and 72-28 in the House, and Bullock’s veto may be overridden by the Legislature. The bill would lower the tax from 3 to 1 percent over four years, reducing it by 0.5 percentage points annually until it reaches 1 percent in tax year 2017.
All told, Bullock vetoed 71 bills, which second to former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who vetoed 78 in 2011. Some of the bills Bullock vetoed include HB297, which would have made it illegal for employers to hire people who entered the country illegally, and HB100, which would have created a Medicaid pay-for-performance pilot project.
Reichner isn’t sure if Bullock will call a special session in an attempt to deal with the House’s rejection of Medicaid expansion. Reichner favors a wait-and-see approach. “Taking our time to implement this is probably not a bad idea,” he said, referring to Sen. Max Baucus’s comment about the Affordable Care Act’s implementation being a “train wreck.”
Some of the major bipartisan bills that passed the Legislature and signed by Bullock had to do with school funding and pension reform. Reichner said the school funding bill didn’t do much for western Montana and was largely meant to help the eastern part of the state.
He noted that the Legislature started with a surplus of a little more than $500 million, and ended the session with close to $200 million before some of Bullock’s vetoes brought that up to around $300 million.
Reichner’s property tax reduction bill, HB230, didn’t make it. It died on a 24-24 vote in the Senate after clearing the House. After the business equipment tax reduction bill passed, “Everything else was gobbled up by more growth in government,” he said.
Reichner agreed that there has been a change in tone from when Schweitzer was in charge. “Gov. Bullock is not a stick-a -thumb-in-your-eye type guy. He’s very personal, very open about meeting with legislators.” However Reichner believes Bullock is more liberal than his predecessor. “I think he’s more pro-government than Schweitzer,” he said. “Schweitzer was antagonistic. He belittled us, both Republicans and Democrats, all the time.” å
There is speculation that Reichner, who is term-limited, may run for the state Senate in 2014. Bigfork currently is represented by Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, who is also term-limited. Reichner demurred on that question, saying it’s too early to talk about. Besides, he could be called back to Helena for a special session before his term is up.