Lawmakers diverge on session

There were two diverging opinions on the success of this year’s state legislative session from local lawmakers.

Sen. Dee Brown, R-Coram, said she was disappointed in some of her Republican colleagues, noting they seemed to abandon the conservative values the party has espoused for the past couple of decades.

Brown voted against the big spending bills like Medicaid expansion, a $104 million infrastructure bill and a bill that would increase the bed tax 1 percent to pay for a new state historical museum in Helena.

She said she was upholding her conservative values and in the case of the infrastructure bill, objecting to the state taking on $80 million debt when it had $300 million in the bank.

“It’s not the way to do business,” she said.

All three bills passed with support from more moderate Republicans, called the Solutions Caucus. Members of that caucus broke party ranks to pass spending and other bills.

The Medicaid expansion bill, for example, was authored by Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, a member of the Solutions Caucus.

Zac Perry, D-Martin City, said the session was an example of how bi-partisanship can work to get things done.

“This session of the three I’ve been in felt like the most civil session,” he said last week.

He noted that lawmakers sat down, made compromises and worked things out.

“It was refreshing,” he said.

But Brown disagreed.

“They don’t vote like a true conservative Republican,” she said of the Solutions Caucus. “It’s the wrong message to give to constituents.”

Perry voted for Medicaid expansion, the infrastructure bill and the museum bill. He likened the infrastructure bill what a normal business would do — even though a business might have cash on hand, business owners still often borrow money for special projects.

One of the highlights of the session for him was the passage of House Bill 640, which revises statute of limitations laws to allow for delayed reporting in cases of child sexual abuse. The bill was proposed in response to the case of James “Doc” Jensen who admitted to admitted to sexually molested high school athletes in Miles City between the 1970s and 1990s. He wasn’t charged until last fall, according to the University of Montana Legislative News Service.

Both Perry and Brown supported that bill. They also agreed on House Bill 6, which authorized funding for the state’s renewable resource grant program.

That bill funds a host of water and sewer projects across the state, including a $122,950 grant that will go toward Columbia Falls’ water upgrade project.

The city should be digging a new, third well, to boost its capacity sometime next year.