By Tim Ravndal

Republican Representative Julie Dooling is the sponsor of HB 13 in the 67th Legislature where the proposal is to increase the pay of all state employees. The legislation will be heard in the House appropriations committee on Wednesday January 6th at 9:00am in room 102. It is a concern that many of the state employees including the legislative staff will be working from home due to the plandemic. Getting paid to stay home is not conducive to the public trust according to many citizens across Montana that weighed in on the question.

Many we have talked to are also concerned that the chairman of the committee Llew Jones, although is serving as a republican representative, has a clear record of voting for excessive spending programs that promote socialism. Many of the conservative republican representatives are highly concerned that the trend going into 2021 is not economically sound and needs to be further reviewed. Providing a $.55/hour increase while the private sector businesses in Montana that pay taxes are cutting back or going out of business.

We talked to multiple business owners and asked if they are seeing a better business outlook in the new year. Many are optimistic the climate will improve, but it is not good at this time. Others also stated they may not be able to stay in business if the economic foundation of their business is further impacted by actions from the government regulators.

The following are the members of the committee that will hear the presentation on Wednesday January 6th @ 9:00AM. It is up to the people to contact these representatives before they cast their vote on all bills leading into the budget of the state of Montana.

It is stated that the current makeup of this committee is subject to change following the opening of the legislative session on Monday January 4th at noon.

Sponsor of the bill can be contacted here

Jones, Llew (R) ‑ Chair https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6837

Holmlund, Kenneth (R) ‑Vice Chair https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6844

Regier, Matt (R) ‑ Vice Chair https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6832

Tschida, Brad (R) ‑ Vice Chair https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6930

Caferro, Mary (D) ‑ Vice Chair https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6870

Bartel, Dan (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6839

Bedey, David (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6854

Fuller, John (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6833

Garner, Frank (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6892

Hamilton, Jim (D) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6830

Hopkins, Mike (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6927

Keane, Jim (D) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6865

Keogh, Connie (D) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6876

Kerr‑Carpenter, Emma (D) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6860

Mercer, Bill (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6911

Moore, Terry (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6915

Nave, Fiona (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6850

Patelis, Jimmy (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6914

Read, Joe (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6928

Ricci, Vince (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6848

Schillinger, Jerry (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6907

Stewart Peregoy, Sharon (D) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6829

Vinton, Sue (R) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6849

Windy Boy, Jonathan (D) https://leg.mt.gov/legislator-information/roster/individual/6857

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