Thursday 5.12.11 | Vol. 11.17

SPECIAL EDITION NEWS FROM THE FRONT

Thank you for all your efforts and help throughout the session and afterwards to ensure that the message on the importance of tourism to the economy of Montana was heard. The 62nd Legislature was a wild ride for the tourism industry with lots of twists and turns, but in the end there was minimal impact. When the 62nd Legislature adjourned, the legislature had passed several bills that were a great cause for concern by the tourism industry. Fortunately, Governor Schweitzer was able to see the harm that several of these bills would cause to our industry. Notably he vetoed HB 316 Redistribute certain revenue and income to state general fund- including 10% of the lodging tax, HB 317 Sunset statutory appropriations over certain periods and HB 375 Reduce certain general fund transfers.

Once the Governor receives a bill, he then has 10 days to decide one of several options available to him; he can veto the bill, sign the bill or allow the bill to become law without his signature. If a bill is an appropriations bill, he may also do a line item veto. The deadline for the acting on many of the bills is Saturday. The Governor still has to act on 70 bills including HB 2 the state general funding bill, HB 5 Long-range building appropriations and HB 9 Cultural and aesthetic grants.

The LAWS site http://laws.leg.mt.gov/laws11/LAW0200W$.startup can provide you with the ability check the status of all the bills. The LAWS system is taking a while to get updated on some of the bill.

Remember to thank your legislators for their service in the legislature. Additionally it is never too early to start an ongoing dialogue with them and all the upcoming candiates about the importance of the tourism and film industry as they listen best to their constituents. After all it is only 19 months until the next legislative session starts.

Highlights for the Session:

HB 98 (Welborn): Direct proceeds from sale of state parks; deposit in state parks spec. rev. fund. The money made from the sale and other use of state parks is deposited into a special state parks account and not a general FWP account. This bill became law.

HB 111 (Stahl): Improving tax administration by depositing state agency lodging tax in gen fund. Passed the legislature and was signed by the Governor.

HB 258 (Edmunds): Revise definition of guest ranch. This bill was signed by the Governor on May 9.

HB 316 (Cook): A bill to redistribute certain revenue and income to state general fund- including 10% of the lodging tax. As mentioned above, passed the legislature but was vetoed by the Governor.

HB 317 (Cook): Sunset statutory appropriations over certain periods—including the lodging tax. As mentioned above, this bill passed the legislature but was vetoed by the Governor.

HB 370 (Squires): Increase motor vehicle fee for state parks and Virginia & Nevada Cities. This bill increased the voluntary vehicle registration fee from $4 to $6 with an additional $1.87 going to state parks and $0.13 to the Montana Heritage Commission Virginia and Nevada Cities. It also provides for a permanent opt-out provision. The bill was transmitted to the Governor for his consideration.

HB 375 (Cook): Reduce certain general fund transfers. This passed the legislature, but was vetoed by the Governor.

HB 439 (Hollenbaugh): General obligation bonds for state government. This bill failed to get the 2/3 vote in the House which it needed to pass. This bill would have provided the Historical Society with $23 million to build the new Montana Heritage Center museum.

HB 477 (Hollandsworth): Revise lodging facility use tax allocation to Montana historical society. This bill put into statute n Memorandum of Understanding that the Montana Historical Society and the Montana Office of Tourism had for many years. Although the percentage of the lodging facility use tax that the Montana Office of Tourism receives was decreased, the net effect is minimal. The Governor signed this bill on May 9.

HB 528 (Smith): Revise laws regarding the cowboy hall of fame. This bill became law and will allow the proposed cowboy hall of fame to be moved from Wolf Point to another location if it becomes more feasible to build somewhere else.

HJ 32 (Connell): Resolution to study state parks, recreation, heritage programs. The bill to move state parks to the Department of Commerce failed. This resolution will study in the interim how state parks could be improved.

SB 3 (Hawks): Require state agencies to report on heritage properties. This bill requires state agencies and the university system to biennially report on the status and maintenance needed of agency heritage properties. It became law.

SB 43 (Keane): Revise the primitive parks act. Requested by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, this legislation will change the Primitive Parks Act to eliminate certain parks, add additional parks, allow necessary improvements at parks, and provide the ability to collect fees for use of the parks. This bill was signed by the Governor.

The chart below is for introduced bills that may have direct impact on the accommodation tax or issues important to the tourism and film industry.

When looking at the status of a bill on this chart, here are some helpful hints:

• Referred to committee means the bill has been assigned to the committee, but the hearing date has not been set.

• Hearing means a hearing is scheduled.

* after status indicates the bill is probably dead
Total number of Introduced Bills - 41
Total number of Introduced and Unintroduced Bills - 94

To revive a bill that is "probably dead" typically requires a supermajority vote (usually a 2/3 vote) by the House and Senate.

Your active participation is critical to assure that the tourism and film industry has a voice at the table. Please stay involved!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Until next session…

Anna Marie Moe
Acting Division Administrator
Montana Promotion Division
amoe@mt.gov