January Update 2

This session continues to be moving slower than previous sessions. The transmittal deadline (middle of the session) has been shifted out two days due to the low volume of bills coming out of committee, and the lack of need for Saturdayfloor sessions.  Many long-serving legislators and lobbyists are still curious about the slow pace, but I haven’t heard any good explanations.

Below is a list of bills that we will be following this session. You will see that some are still in draft form and waiting to be assigned a bill number. I sat down with Russ Katherman from A&E last week to trade notes. Infrastructure funding will be one of issues we following closely and continue to support.

The Build Montana Rally was held last Thursday. There was good representation from the construction and engineering communities. A representative from the TRIP – a national transportation research group – led the presentation with the Montana Chamber, the Montana Motor Carriers Association, and ASCE echoing the need for infrastructure funding. Representative Jeff Wellborn was also there as the sponsor of HB 5 – the Governor’s “Build Montana” bill.

HB 63 – Revise licensing/regulation of engineers and land surveyors – has been transmitted from the House to the Senate.