Dark money, taxes, texting, scanning and raw milk

A bill aimed at shining light on campaign finances and four tax measures were among the many bills brought before the Montana Legislature at the start of its second half.

• A campaign finance bill that passed the Senate by 28-22 on Feb. 26 failed to pass the House on March 10 after it took six votes just to get it before the House Business and Labor Committee.

Senate Bill 289 failed a motion to reconsider by 52-48 on March 10. It was sponsored by Rep. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, on behalf of Gov. Steve Bullock.

SB 289 would require all contributions and expenses raised and spent by groups for campaign electioneering to be disclosed. Ankney said the goal was to shine some light on dark money used to pay for attack ads.

• The Montana House failed to overturn Gov. Steve Bullock’s veto of an across-the-board tax cut sponsored by Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, the House Majority Leader. The vote on March 10 was 59-41, far short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn the veto.

House Bill 166 would have cut state income taxes by 0.2 percent in each of the state’s seven income tax brackets and reduce state tax revenue by $164 million over four years. The measure passed the Senate by 29-21 on Feb. 25 and in the House by 58-39 on Feb. 27.

Rep. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena, the House Minority Leader, noted that Bullock’s veto message clearly explained that the legislature had proposed $945 million in new spending, which would leave the state with a $47 million deficit if everything passed.

• The House Taxation Committee heard another tax reduction bill on March 10 and approved it by a 12-8 vote.

Senate Bill 200, sponsored by Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, calls for reducing state income taxes, widening the tax brackets and reducing the capital gains tax credit rate. The effect would be to reduce state tax revenue by $193 million over four years.

• Another tax bill, House Bill 213, sponsored by Rep. Mike Miller, R-Helmville, calls for reducing the state’s business equipment tax by raising the value of exempting equipment from $100,000 to $500,000.

The bill passed in the House on a second reading by 58-42 on March 10. As amended, the bill called for reimbursing local governments, schools and the university system for the loss in taxable value.

HB 213 would reduce the general fund balance by $18.1 million over the next two years and by $23.6 million over the next two years.

• A constitutional amendment sponsored by Rep. Tom Jacobson, D-Great Falls, that called for setting up an oil and gas trust fund similar to the state’s coal severance tax fund was defeated in the House by 53-47 on March 10.

House Bill 310 had cleared the House Taxation Committee by 11-9 on Feb. 13. The state makes about $50 million per year on the state coal tax fund.

• A bill that would prohibit texting while driving passed the House by 53-46 on March 11. Sponsored by Rep. Virginia Court, D-Billings, the bill would ban the use of any wireless communication device to write, send or read a written communication while driving on a highway or while stopped at a traffic light or stop sign.

Proposed fines would range from $50 to $200. Supporters said people need to focus on driving. Opponents said the bill would unnecessarily limit freedom.

• The House approved a bill that would prohibit local governments from using license-plate scanners to gather data on vehicles on public highways.

House Bill 344, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, passed the House by 56-44 on March 10. He said the federal government is already using license-plate scanners, but it wasn’t yet being used in Montana, so now was a good time to prohibit it.

• A House bill that would allow the sale of raw milk received a 66-34 vote in the House on a second reading on March 6.

Sponsored by Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, the bill would allow farmers to sell unpasteurized milk from small herds directly to consumers. The bill would apply to farms with no more than seven cows, 15 goats or 15 sheep.

Rep. Christy Clark, R-Choteau, worried that the lack of inspection could cause diseases like brucellosis to be passed on to people through raw milk.

Rep. Albert Olszewski, R-Kalispell, said he was concerned about public safety. He called pasteurization one of the most important processes invented to protect people.