29 March 2019 — 0521 mdt

Two bad bills get floor votes in the legislature today

House Bill 658, Rep. Ed Buttrey’s bill to extend expanded Medicaid in a way that kicks half the people off the program, is the fifth bill scheduled for its second reading in the MT House today. The floor session commences at 0800. At least nine Republicans must join all 42 Democrats in voting Aye for the bill to stay alive. It may be perversely entertaining to watch Democrats speak in favor of a bill they hate.

The day after HB-658 received committee approval, a federal district judge in Washington, D.C., struck down work and work reporting requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky that are more than fleetingly similar to those in Buttrey’s bill. That decision makes a strong case for taking HB-425 off the table, repairing it, and sending to the House’s floor with a “do pass” recommendation — but that won’t happen. Buttrey and his ring of so-called moderate Republicans are determined to see how much they can get away with. Democrats so fear HB-658’s not passing that they may not press the issue lest they raise the ire of the “moderates.”

Will HB-658 be approved? Probably. Even rancid sausage gets eaten when people are hungry enough.

MT GOP is still hellbent on kissing Northwestern’s …

Senate Bill 331, Sen. Tom Richmond’s bill to shield Northwestern Energy from the Public Service Commission and the laws of economics, gets its third reading in the MT Senate today. It’s sixth on the agenda. Yesterday, it was approved 32–18 on the second reading.

The vote was largely partyline, with two Democrats — Jon Sesso of Butte, and Gene Vuckovich of Anaconda — joining all 30 Republicans in voting Aye. The Montana Republican Party gleefully Tweeted that the vote was bipartisan, which is horse manure.

Sesso represents a heavily pro-union district. Most unions in Montana support SB-331 because they think it will save jobs at Colstrip. That puts Sesso in the same predicament as Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin in West Virginia. Sesso’s decision to vote for a stupid bill is understandable although far from admirable. Vuckovich represents the district in which Northwestern’s Dave Gates generating station is located (DG has three 50-megawatt natural gas fueled combustion turbines), and is in much the same situation as Sesso.

SB-331 will be approved by the MT Senate, but not by a veto-proof majority. Next, it will be approved by the MT House, again on a largely partyline vote, forcing Gov. Bullock to choose between vetoing a bad bill and getting crosswise with organized labor, or signing the bill and condemning Northwestern’s ratepayers to bailing out Northwestern’s stockholders. Either choice will make Montana’s Republicans happy.