End of Session in Sight….Work Not Done

It appears that national laughingstock known as the 62nd Montana Legislative Session will likely end tomorrow, as today, the House gave final approval to the budget bill and the Senate gave initial approval of the bill.

Normally, we would be happy to see this session end, so Republicans have no further opportunity to make decisions that will harm Montana for years to come. However, the Republicans appear poised to leave town without finishing their job.

The budget has seven vital companion bills that lay out funding for aspects of the budget. The most notable of these bills is the school funding bill. However, these seven bills have not passed the legislature and been sent to the Governor. Without these bills, crucial portions of the state budget could be left in limbo or drastically underfunded. If this happens, the state could easily be left vulnerable to lawsuits for violating our state constitution by not adequately funding our public school system.

Tomorrow will likely be a fairly volatile day as Republicans seek to cram through their policies long before they are ready or have had a full and fair debate on their merits.