The New House Budget Process Is Illegitimate
by: Rep. Art Noonan
Beginning on Monday morning, the House Republican majority will begin deliberation in the Appropriations Committee on its six budget bills that fund the needs of Montana for the next two years. These six bills, which have come to be known as the “six-pack budget,” are substitutes for the traditional state funding bill, House Bill 2. It is a reckless and unnecessary approach that could easily result in bad consequences for Montana families.
Long before the 2007 Legislature opened, I had a plan for the state’s historic budget surplus. I planned to do everything possible to ensure that all children in Montana go to bed safe, well, well-fed, warm, well-educated and unafraid. This goal is both attainable and worthy. But you can imagine my sadness in finding the “six-pack” budget bills take us away from even what we’ve done in the past to reach these goals.
Why have Republicans sunk the traditional unified state funding bill which has served Montana well for 30 years? I believe the move intends to isolate unfavored parts of the budget like public education and health and human services to make it easier to send more tax give-aways to the wealthy corporations and landowners who subsidize their political agenda. It also serves to hide shifts in the tax burden from these same entities onto the backs of ordinary working families.
My friends across the aisle cannot accept that the people of our state have rejected their ideological-driven strangulation of government in favor of the balanced approach of Gov. Brian Schweitzer. It is an approach that has proven we can have meaningful tax rebates and strong public school classrooms as well as a strong social safety net.
As Democratic floor leader in the House, I have been front and center in the discussions on the budget and on how the Legislature handles the state’s finances. Many believe this is insider baseball that normal folks won’t care about. I am hoping this is not true.
I would like to be reporting that great work has been done by the House in 2007. The sad fact is that the best legislation addressing bread-and-butter issues for Montana families was thrown aside by stacked committees while we spent our time debating a State Lullaby, Liberty Day, or whether “inalienable right” really means “God-given.” We’ve also debated whether you can manufacture guns in your home and be able to stamp “Made in Montana ” on them, and whether the United Nations flag may be flown over the Capitol.
Instead of working to improve the lives of ordinary Montanans, the House Republicans killed Indian Education for All funding for our classrooms; re- regulated the last big Republican idea — deregulation of energy — and several times told the federal government that we don’t like them. While the Senate was busy passing the governor’s historic $400 tax rebate for resident homeowners, all-day kindergarten, and health care improvements for small businesses, the House Republicans were huddled in the secretary of state’s conference room re-inventing the budget process.
When I first heard of this possibility from rumors in the halls of the Capitol, I asked Majority Leader Mike Lange repeatedly what was going on and was told nothing out of the ordinary. Then on the 43rd day of the legislative session, Republicans announced suddenly the “six-pack” budget with hearings to commence a week later. The input of more than 1,000 Montanans and the Montana Senate was tossed out, and new budget numbers were presented that never would be supported in an open, public process.
Democrats are asking Montanans to return to Helena and to testify on these budget bills they have never seen. We must ask them to again brave Montana highways and lose time at work because Republicans rejected the established constitutional budget process. Do not believe that only high-paid lobbyists testify on the state’s budget. Earlier this year we saw constituents in wheelchairs, some using walkers and others wearing hard hats, come to be heard by this Legislature. It is wrong that Republicans have made this necessary again.
As this budget charade plays out, remember that folks with your best interests in mind pushed for an open and fair budget process that has been the envy of many states. Do not accept a process that has been designed in secrecy to fulfill a narrow ideological agenda. House Bill 2 is the legitimate state budget. Demand that it be resurrected to get this legislative session back on track else we all regret the results.
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2 Responses to “The New House Budget Process Is Illegitimate”
March 6th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Very well said, it is unfortunate that Republicans have taken such a destructive advantage of their slight majority, instead of continuing the productive direction Montana was headed. I appreciate your very eloquent take on the situation.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Thank you for your efforts, Rep. Noonan. Accountability is not part of the Republican Party’s vocabulary, neither in Washington nor in Montana. Our only recourse is to remember these arrogant hacks come next election day.