CHECK UP ON LAWMAKERS DURING INTERIM

The Montana Legislature isn't scheduled to meet again till January
2013. But many of those part-time lawmakers will be meeting in the
interim, gathering information, and making recommendations that may
become legislation at the next regular session.

Montanans can keep track of this off-season legislative activity
though the efforts of the Legislative Service Division and its helpful
website.

The August edition of The Interim, a monthly newsletter of the Montana
Legislative Branch, gives a roundup of committee work plans.

Education oversight

Rep. Elsie Arntzen, R-Billings, chairwoman of the Education and Local
Government Committee, has appointed members to represent it at
meetings of the statewide education governing boards. Sen. Tom Facey,
D-Missoula, and Rep. Kristin Hansen, R-Havre, will attend Board of
Public Education meetings on behalf of the legislative committee. Sen.
Bob Lake, R-Hamilton, and Rep. Edie McClafferty, D-Butte, will attend
Board of Regents meetings. The legislators won't be voting members of
the boards.

However, any improvement in communication that these new liaisons
facilitate will be beneficial for both the state's schools and the
state's lawmakers. Policymakers and educators need to understand each
other before the hectic 90-day session starts.

One of the interim Education and Local Government Committee's studies
is on "performance-based K-12 funding and determining whether that is
appropriate for Montana."

Pension problems

The State Administration and Veterans' Affairs Committee, which
elected Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, as vice chairman, has decided to
focus on options for dealing with the state's unfunded accrued
actuarial liability for public employee retirement systems. In
addition, the committee will study the possibility of increasing the
authority of the Commissioner of Political Practices to enforce
election laws. And finally, the committee plans to study the
possibility of combining school board, municipal and primary elections.

Medical marijuana

The Law & Justice Interim Committee may have the longest list of
topics its members want to study. Topping the list is medical
marijuana. In the previous interim, the Children & Families Committee
devoted a major portion of its work to medical marijuana issues, but
its proposed legislation was barely considered by the 2011
Legislature, which passed two other medical marijuana bills.

Reps. Ken Peterson (R) and Margie MacDonald (D) and Sen. Lynda Moss
(D), all of Billings, serve on the Law & Justice Interim Committee.

The 2011-2012 Children & Families Committee also plans to review
implementation of Senate Bill 423, the only medical marijuana bill to
become law this year. Additionally, the committee, chaired by Sen.
Jason Priest, R-Red Lodge, plans to monitor Medicaid, study childhood
hunger and trauma and oversee the state health department.

Protecting grain growers

The Economic Affairs Interim Committee's work includes a study
directed by Senate Joint Resolution 15 to determine whether the
state's bonding requirements for agricultural commodities buyers are
sufficient producer protection in the growing and changing market. The
resolution says that recommendations are to be made by Sept. 15, 2012,
so that they may be considered by the 2013 Legislature. Rep. Tom
Berry, R-Roundup, chairs the committee.

To learn more about the work of interim legislative committees, go to
leg.mt.gov and click on "committees" then on "interim." Meeting
schedules, agendas and research information is posted online, as well
as committee membership lists.