Legislative Session News

by Rep. Paul C. Fielder, HD_13

The legislative session always seems to be super busy, and this is no exception. I’d like to catch people up on some of the issues that I’ve been involved with as the Representative for HD-13, in western Sanders County. This session the House of Representatives consists of 68 republicans and 32 democrats while the Senate consists of 34 republicans and 18 democrats. Committees consist of the ratio of the legislature representation with republicans comprising about 2/3 and democrats about 1/3 of each committee. The House leadership appointed me as the Chairman of the House Taxation Committee which is scheduled to meet every morning and demands a lot of Chairman time. I also serve on the House Fish, Wildlife & Parks; Energy, Technology & Federal Relations; Rules; and Joint House & Senate Rules committees, and am also a co-chair of the Montana Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and serve on the Montana GOP Executive Board and Rules committee. I’m busy, but I want to talk mostly about the work that the Legislature has done so far this session regarding taxes, your taxes.

During the last two years, the state has collected a budget surplus of about two and a half Billion dollars, that’s Billion with a B. This budget surplus resulted from factors that caused the state, in 2021, to underestimate the amount of taxes which would be collected. The bulk of those excess tax collections came from individual income tax payments and the next largest portion came from property tax payments. There are ideas from both parties about what to do with that $2.5 billion dollar surplus. My thoughts have always been that government should collect no more taxes than it absolutely needs and that any surplus should be returned to pockets of the taxpayers that it was taken from. This is what your legislature has done SO FAR with that budget surplus (and this is only a start with more to come). Keep in mind that each bill needs to pass in a committee and then two votes in the House or Senate after which it goes to the other chamber (Senate or House) where it must also pass in that corresponding committee and then two votes on that chamber’s floor, before final signing or veto by the Governor. So it is hard to get a bill passed and that’s good. Bills should be heavily scrutinized.

House Bill (HB) 192 would provide a refund of up to $1,250 for individual income tax filers ($2,500 for joint filers) who paid up to that amount in their 2021 income taxes. If a couple had a $3,000 tax liability on their 2021 tax return, they would receive up to the $2,500 amount. If a couple had a $1,800 liability on their 2021 return they would receive a refund of that amount paid. This bill passed out of committee 16-7 and on the House floor 70-29, primarily along party lines.

HB 222 would provide a refund of up to $500 in each of 2023 and 2024 (a total of $1,000) for property taxes paid in 2022 for the principal residence occupied by the taxpayer. This bill passed out of the Tax committee with a vote of 14-7 and on the House floor vote of 69-30, primarily along party lines.

HB 251 would reduce the state debt by paying it off while we have this one-time budget surplus. This would remove payments on that debt and eliminate interest payments so that future revenues could be better spent. It is sort of like paying off all your credit cards, your truck payment and your home mortgage to become debt free. This bill passed out of committee 16-7 and on the House floor 70-25.

HB 212 raises the business property tax exemption from $300 thousand to a million dollars. This allows small businesses not to have to pay an annual tax on the first million dollars of their equipment. For a restaurant, this would include tables, chairs, dishes, silverware, stoves, refrigerators. For an auto garage, it would include tools, tables, and machines. For farms and ranches, it means tractors, bailers, combines, fencing materials, etc. Can you imagine paying a tax on everything in your house – every year? This tax bill helps small businesses and passed out of committee 15-6 and on the House floor 67-32, again mostly along party lines.

HB 267 put $100 million dollars into an account that can only be used to match federal government grants for infrastructure that require a 1-7 match. That means that if there is a project for a road or bridge, for every $1,000 the state provides, the federal government will match it with $7,000. That is a pretty cost effective fund to have as needs arise. The state can leverage our funds with a greater match of federal funds. This bill passed unanimously out of committee and on the House floor.

We’ve passed other tax bills which I think are good also (HBs 189, 212 and 223) and there are still more tax bills to be considered in this session, some of which would increase the amount of individual income tax and property tax refunds. That issue is not done yet. I’ll soon be bringing my bill to completely repeal all state tax on social security income. The Social Security system was never intended to be a revenue source for government.

One last note, I am also bringing a Montana Constitutional Amendment (HB372) to establish the RIGHT of Montana citizens to hunt, fish, and trap and harvest wild fish and wildlife including the right to use current means and methods. This RIGHT is needed to protect Montana sportsmen from ballot initiatives that seek to take away our means and methods by which we hunt, fish and trap and harvest fish and wildlife. Why do we need HB 372? Because in 1990, Animal Rights Activist Wayne Pacelle said, “We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all hunting in the United States… We will take it species by species until all hunting is stopped in California. Then we will take it state by state”.

We have been flooded with hundreds (daily) and thousands (weekly) of emails and notes requesting votes for or against certain bills. Many of these are computer generated messages with the same ending e-mail address. So, if I have not replied to your contact, please excuse me. It is very busy here and I’m trying to do the job you sent me here to do.

Rep. Paul C Fielder,

House District 13