Legislative Recap Week 5 and Week6
 | Author:
Julie Dooling, House District 70 Representative
MT State Representative |
Legislative Recap Week 5 and Week 6 Julie Dooling, House District 70 Representative Week 5: Another busy week in House State Administration – as we had 13 bill hearings regarding the State Pension Plans, election and Veterans issues.
On Tuesday, I had the opportunity and honor to be “Chair of the Day” where I presided over the House floor session. It is a unique perspective to be at the rostrum and “in charge”. The debate went well and no one needed to be gaveled down 😊. Then Thursday, I said the prayer at the beginning of the floor session. Rep Michelle Binkley requests volunteers to say the daily prayer and one of my favorite activities of the day.
On Friday, I arranged for the House State Administration committee to take a field trip to the Lewis & Clark Elections office where Clerk and Recorder Amy Reeves and her Election Officer, Connor Fitzpatrick, gave us a detailed explanation of how a voted ballot moves through the process, whether by mail or at the polling place and becomes an official vote. We then conducted an unofficial hand count/tally of 7 mock ballots. On average, it took each group of 3 people approximately 20 minutes to hand count the 7 ballots!
Week 6: While House State Administration has been busy, my other 2 committees have not heard quite so many bills. The first few weeks, bill hearings were mostly Red Tape Reduction legislation. In House Transportation, we have had a few bills pertaining to electric cars and how to accurately assess fees during registration or at the charging station in efforts to collect fees to equalize the gas tax differences. Gas taxes are collected when we purchase gas or diesel fuel. Those taxes in turn help pay for the maintenance, repair and improvements to our State Highways. Electric cars drive on the same roads as gas/diesel vehicles but, currently do not contribute. We are intending to fix that.
In House Agriculture, we had a country-of-origin labeling/placard bill for beef and pork (HB 350), that for the 3rd session, was tabled in committee. I feel as many do, that until this mandate comes from the Feds, we’ll have no way to enforce out-of-state meat packers to comply. I know that the consumer would like to know where their beef is coming from, but most people agree that they would prefer to buy MONTANA BEEF. Most of the beef in our freezer is directly from our field, and the pork is a locally raised 4H market animal. But when I do run out of burger in the summer, I go to our local butcher. They sell Montana meat and most have been locally raised. It’s generally less expensive and the quality is better. Many of our local ranchers sell their locally raised beef. You can buy direct from the ranch or even in some grocery stores.
Friday the 10th, was a milestone day – it marked Day 30 of the 90-day session!
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