With the 64th Montana Legislature underway, representatives and senators from around the state are busy for 90 days addressing the issues of Big Sky country.
In Flathead County, likely the biggest issue lawmakers will address this session is the water compact with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
The Flathead County Commission sent a letter to the compact commission in October outlining some of the county’s concerns with the current version of the compact, including adequate water rights for existing users in the Flathead.
Commissioner Phil Mitchell, who was recently sworn in as the new commissioner for District 1, said the water compact would be one of the issues he focuses on in his new term.
The commission has expressed that it believes a water compact is necessary, but the most-recent iteration of the document needed work. The Legislature is expected to take up the issue during the session.
Another issue that could affect Flathead County comes from the Montana Association of Counties, which is pushing for an extra step in the process for protesting a decision made by a county board of adjustment, allowing a person to protest a decision to the county commission before having to go to court.
There is a gamut of issues on the Lake County Commission’s radar going into the 2015 legislative session, according to Commissioner Ann Brower. She said the commission is particularly interested in how the Legislature will handle the hotly contested water compact and how it will fund infrastructure improvements around the state. Brower has noted that funds for such projects continue to dwindle and she is concerned that the state will simply pass on the costs to local governments.
“We don’t want to see any unfunded mandates,” she said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Lincoln County Commission, Mike Cole, said he has faith in that area’s representatives and senators to do what is right for local citizens. Cole said the commission is more concerned about issues at the federal level that could impact forest management. However, the commission will be keeping an eye on a few bills introduced by House District 2 Rep. Mike Cuffe. One of the bills would put in place a way to refund the communities impacted by construction of the Libby Dam and Lake Koocanusa. Cuffe has encouraged officials at the federal level who are renegotiating the Columbia River Treaty with Canada to include reimbursements for the land lost south of the border.