HELENA – With more than $620 million in federal economic stimulus money about to begin flowing into Montana, lawmakers here are dancing a kind of budgetary two-step.
As in any normal session, legislators are working to trim the governor’s budget proposal, what they call House Bill 2, to fit ever-falling state revenue predictions. So far, no real cuts to any programs are proposed; lawmakers instead are trying to hold the line on spending, or minimize funding increases – though that could change should the economy deteriorate further.
What is unusual about the already complicated budgeting process this time around is the stimulus money, which lawmakers have set up a separate fund for that they have dubbed “House Bill 2a.” While the Legislature hopes to be able to use the federal money to reduce deep cuts in the original budget, care must be taken to avoid using this one-time money for ongoing programs – hence the two separate spending bills.
But major questions about Montana’s share of the stimulus – which the White House projects will create or save some 11,000 jobs here – persist, primarily in terms of how specifically the money will be designated, and what strings might be attached to it.
At the state level, lawmakers wish to have as much influence over the prioritization of the stimulus money as possible, which is why plans are in the works to formalize legislative oversight of the funds. Unsurprisingly, Democrats and Republicans have widely disparate ideas of how this should be carried out.
Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City, has introduced SB 460, which would set up a formal Economic Stimulus Oversight Commission to oversee how the federal stimulus funds are distributed and spent. Story’s commission would be comprised of 13 members: two state senators from each party; two state representatives from each party; three non-voting members, each appointed by a member of the state’s federal delegation; two non-voting members who are senior level staffers for the governor; along with four members of the public representing citizens, local government or school districts, each appointed by one of the four minority and majority leaders of state House and Senate.
Story intends his bill, scheduled for a March 4 hearing, as a way to establish a committee that could act as a “conduit to round information up at the state level” and provide it to the federal government. Having private citizens with experience in bidding on projects and large-scale construction could add expertise to the lawmakers and governor’s staff. He is also concerned that if the federal government requires funds be returned if not spent properly, the process requires extremely close monitoring.
“Hopefully, this committee would be able to be more involved in a chosen time period with when projects were bid, and how they are constructed,” Story said. “The rapidity that a lot of this stuff is going to be done, people should be concerned that the bidding process is fair.”
Many Democrats, however, remain wary of the idea of turning a large degree of control over the stimulus money to private citizens appointed, not elected. Rep. Cynthia Hiner, D-Deer Lodge, has introduced a short bill that sets up no new committee, instead asserting that the legislative Finance Committee will review how the stimulus money is spent.
House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre, argues that legislators on the Finance Committee are already deep into the state’s budgeting process, and that over half of Montana’s budget is federal money anyway. Compared to the billions the Legislature is charged by the state Constitution with appropriating, the stimulus is not that enormous, and well within the ability of Finance Committee to oversee.
“Having federal money come to our state is not a new and novel concept,” Bergren said. “Where there’s political appointees for party members, I just don’t see how that’s a healthy situation – we’re charged with a duty to oversee taxpayer dollars.”
Story answers that the Finance Committee already has a “full plate,” but he is open to compromise, like adding staff to Legislative Services or tweaking the language in HB2a to establish exactly who will be keeping track of the stimulus funds.
“Really the only protection to the public is if light is shed on this process,” Story said. “I think it’s very hard for anyone to say we don’t need some type of oversight over the money, or this program.”