March 13, 2017 Legislative Update

We have a busy week coming up! Many of the majors pieces of legislation we have been tracking have hearings this week.

HB 473 Bridge and Road Safety Accountability Act will have Executive Action on Monday at 3:00pm in House Transportation. This is when the Committee will vote on whether the Bill should pass out of committee. It is also expected that the committee will have some questions. It should be an interesting discussion.
HB 577 Local Option Infrastructure Tax will have a hearing  on Tuesday at 8:00am in House Taxation. We plan to support the bill as another tool in the tool box when addressing infrastructure needs. Please let me know if you would like to testify at the hearing. The link to the bill is listed.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2017/billpdf/HB0577.pdf
SB 278 Revising Local Government Selection Procedures for Professional Services also has a hearing on Tuesday. The hearing will be at 3:00pm in House Local Government. We plan to continue to support this legislation.
SB 331 Local Option Infrastructure Tax and Property Tax Relief Act will have a hearing Thursday at 9:00am in Senate Tax. This bill is very similar to HB 577, but provides a different approach on property tax relief. We plan to also support this bill.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2017/billpdf/SB0331.pdf
SB 335 Generally Revise Laws to Facilitate Public Private Partnerships has just been introduced. Please review the Bill and provide feedback. There had been some concern regarding the quality of projects when completed through public/private partnerships. A&E will administer the state projects and I am hoping that will alleviate some concerns.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2017/billpdf/SB0335.pdf
It is going to be a busy week, but it is exciting to see some of these real solutions to long-term infrastructure funding moving forward. Please let me know if you would like to attend and/or testify at the hearings.
Please call with any questions or concerns!
Jennifer James
(406)459-2926