Lost In the Shuffle

by: Carla Augustad

Thu Sep 06, 2012 at 17:49:42 PM MST

HELENA- The Montana Legislature has flipped the switch and turned on the 2013 LAWS website. The online site allows anyone to search bill drafts and see where they are in the process. There were already 329 bill draft requests as of Friday. Some of them are bills which died last session and are being brought back for a second chance, others are drafts which lawmakers have been working on this interim. The 2013 session begins January 7th and runs through April 27th. Republicans control both the House and Senate, and the November elections will determine the political makeup of Montana's 63rd Legislature.

Montana homeowners and small businesses will see sharp increases in their property taxes if 130 corporate taxpayers succeed in altering the way their own property is assessed, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Tuesday. Speaking during the Billings Chamber of Commerce Newsmaker Forum and in an interview with The Billings Gazette editorial board, Schweitzer said corporations whose Montana property is centrally assessed are preparing to float a proposal that would cut their own taxes by about $100 million per year, down from the $200 million they currently pay. If the 2013 Legislature were to approve such a proposal, the tax burden would be shifted to 350,000 Montana homeowners and 45,000 small businesses, Schweitzer said.

Denise told the audience, "My parents told me that education was the path to success, and they showed me by taking me to Head Start in Billings, Montana, while they were pursuing their own college degrees. My mom is here tonight, Carol Juneau, as a Montana delegate. Thank you for all of your support." Denise's political career has really followed in the footsteps of her mother, who served several terms in the Montana Legislature. Carol, who is attending the convention as a Montana delegate, noted, "I hope that one thing that we passed on to our children is that you can do what you want to do, you can be what you want to be."