HELENA – Top legislative leaders continue to buck against the governor’s deadline for allocating stimulus dollars, on Thursday promising to vouch for the federal funds on their own if the governor proves unwilling.
A joint resolution sponsored by Democratic House Speaker Bob Bergren, Republican Senate President Bob Story and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams comes in response to the governor’s demand that legislators pass a stimulus bill by April 3.
Either Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer or the Legislature must certify by that date that the state plans to ask for its $800 million-plus portion of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The legislators’ proposed resolution could serve as the basis for such a request, and act as a fail safe in case the governor does not act because lawmakers do not meet his deadline.
“With this resolution in process, we can focus on our real duty, which is to appropriate the money properly,” Story, R-Park City, said.
Story and the others said the governor’s deadline falls too early for them to complete the appropriation process for stimulus dollars responsibly, and with fair public input.
“This is a transparent, open process and part of working through this bill is public input and seeing if maybe there’s some better ideas out there,” said Republican Rep. Walter McNutt of Sidney, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Lawmakers began work on the stimulus appropriations bill, HB 645, this week after finishing work on the main budget bill Monday.
Joint subcommittees listened to a long list of requests on Thursday from cities, counties, organizations and other lawmakers for a piece of the stimulus pie to fund their favored projects.
All the subcommittees finish work Friday before sending the bill to the full House Appropriations Committee next week. They are then looking at a tentative goal of April 7 to get the bill through the Legislature.
Schweitzer has stopped short of saying he will not ask for the federal funds if lawmakers miss his April 3 deadline, but he has expressed worry a divided Legislature might reject the stimulus spending bill after he asks the federal government for the money.
“I think there’s a split in the Republican party as to whether they support this reinvestment in Montana’s economy,” Schweitzer said.
The Republican House leadership chose not to join in sponsorship of the joint stimulus resolution.
GOP Floor Leader Scott Mendenhall said they do not want to promote irresponsible spending that will burden future generations with debt, but he expects a stimulus bill to gather enough Republican votes to pass.
Still, the Republican from Clancy said his party is torn about what he called a “very expensive experiment” and the way people are responding to the promise of a federal handout.
“It’s like a feeding frenzy. My reaction and that of many of my colleagues is we’re actually sickened by this,” Mendenhall said.
While most of the state’s stimulus share is marked for set areas of spending, the total includes roughly $300 million in discretionary funds. The governor has pitched his plan to lawmakers for how to use those dollars, and on Thursday many others offered their own ideas.
In the Natural Resources and Transportation Subcommittee, legislators heard pleas for money for bridge and road improvements, dams, water projects, hospitals, transit services, child care centers and more. A laundry list of requests were also presented to the subcommittees dealing with education and health and human services.
But as the pleas piled up throughout the morning, it became clear to many there wouldn’t be enough money to meet every wish list.
“It’s new territory for everybody. We have to figure out what to do,” said university system Board of Regents Chairman Steve Barrett. “Unfortunately as we look at it, we realize it might not be enough to solve all of our problems.”