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Columbia Falls and Kalispell have two new political champions

By Mike Jopek

The 64th session of the Montana Legislature is over. Our legislators won’t meet again for two years, unless there is a financial emergency that warrants a call by the majority of members or the governor.

Columbia Falls and Kalispell have two new political champions. Freshmen lawmakers Zac Perry and Frank Garner did well and rose above the bitter grandstanding that often envelops politics. They helped pass laws that matter to people.

Perry sponsored the law that allows school districts to lease property for up to 15 years with options to purchase. Perry also sponsored the law that requires better financial reporting of state public lands, which are held in trust for the people.

Garner sponsored the law that revised the duties of the public safety council. Garner also sponsored the law to better distribute revenues to counties that have established drinking and driving prevention programs.

Our lawmakers spent the past four months sequestered in Helena debating policy. Often respectful and sometime cantankerous, lawmakers waded through thousands of bills and passed hundred of laws. Viewed broadly, the 64th did well.

Gov. Steve Bullock worked along side a Republican-controlled Legislature. Together the two branches provided oversight to each other, but got stuff done. That’s great news for people looking for productivity. Bullock, a Democrat, proved adept at working with the Republican Legislature to deliver results.

The Republican Legislature expanded Medicaid in Montana. Thousands of working-poor citizens in the Flathead will soon have access to basic medicine. Montana became the 29th state in the nation to accept millions of federal dollars to help pay for basic healthcare at the doctors or local hospitals.

Democrat Perry and Republican Garner voted to expand Medicaid. They embraced the bipartisan spirit that Flathead voters deserve. These lawmakers set aside ideological differences and found common ground on tough policy decisions.

Perry and Garner also agreed on disclosure for election spending in Montana. They helped pass a law that shines light into the darkest of money spent to influence elections, and required that electronic reporting be done accurately and promptly. Transparency will help to clean up some of the dirty shenanigans that have plagued political campaigns in recent years.

On a matter of great cost to homeowners and small business owners, Perry and Garner agreed. The 64th Legislature proposed to reduce property tax reappraisal cycles from every six years to two years. Perry and Garner opposed reducing reappraisal frequencies.

The 2003 reappraisal cut statewide property taxes by $10 million over the biennium while the 2009 reappraisal increased taxes over $6 million. The 2015 reappraisal will up property taxes by $20 million over two years.

The bulk of the latest tax increase comes from homeowners whose market valuations increased at above the statewide average rate. Homeowner tax valuation increases will be applied onto tax bills six times faster, all in the first year of the new two-year reappraisal versus the traditional six-year incremental valuation increase.

Homeowners whose tax valuation decreased during the Great Recession enjoy tax valuation savings on year one, regardless if the reappraisal frequency is two or six years. But homeowners lose the predictability of having recession reductions frozen for the next six years.

Many of our lawmakers buy into the rhetoric that taxpayers want simple math to explain expensive taxes. What people living in their homes deserve are lower property taxes and predictability into the next decade, not simply the next Legislature.

Columbia Falls and Kalispell citizens should welcome home the new lawmakers they sent to Helena in January. Perry and Garner have a bright future in representing their districts and deserve thanks for their freshman-year performance. The 2017 Legislature is far away, but Perry and Garner can do a lot of good over the interim to serve their communities.

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