Bill Killed That Was Against Fishing Derbies

Hello again from the Capitol in Helena. Last week we passed SB 188 by Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, out of the Senate, a bill that would limit the insurance liability on property caused by range and forest fires. Examples were given how some awards have been outlandish compared to what the worth of the property was. The electrical co-ops have in the past been very impacted by these high monetary awards as well as other property owners. This bill now goes to the House.

My SB 89 passed the Senate without any opposition. This bill simply says that Supreme Court judges and District Court judges have to report their financial and campaign expenses and donations just as we legislators do. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander!

Sen. Keane, D-Butte, and I have been working for the past two sessions to get the underground tank problem solved. There are 4,000 of these tanks scattered around the state that need to be cleaned up because of contamination due to spills and/or leaking. Last session I got a $400,000 grant to clean up two sites with strict guidelines. One of these sites was in Fort Peck and had dragged on for over 10 years.

Guess what? Not only were these two sites cleaned up, but another dozen as well. There is over $10 million in this account for just this cleanup. This fund is called the "Orphan Share." SB 96 allows for this cleanup of sites from all around the state and gives timelines, limits administrative fees and has to come back and give progress reports to the Environmental Quality Council of which I am the chairman.

Finally, my FWP committee killed the bill that would stop the transporting of fish around eastern Montana. This bill was a bill against fish derbies that raises money for local projects and is a great deal of fun for these communities. As you may note, this bill was brought forward from a legislator from western Montana (Bozeman)!

My Senate page this week is Daniel Sawdey from Scobey. His father is Dr. Donald Sawdey, my neighbor. Daniel is a junior at Scobey High School.

All for now, and I hope everyone has a good week.