MEMBER UPDATES

MSGC's legislative package addresses three areas of Montana law, including affordable housing, transportation, and land-use laws. Our legislative package includes:

LC1289/ LC0380
Provide funding to the Affordable Housing Revolving Account with leftover funds from TANF and Section 8 monies.

LC0688
Safe Routes to Schools

LC0761
Eliminate the Family Transfer Exemption from subdivision review.

LC0764
Modify description and elements of Growth Policies to include affordable housing and critical/sensitive environmental areas, such as areas with high wildfire risk, and cumulative impact analyses.

LC0743
Revise and consolidate Minor Subdivision review with an evasion criteria for subsequent minors.

LC0631
Develop Statewide Goals through the Consensus Council 2001

We had good hearings on our four bills that were tabled in committees. Our tabled bills include, the realty transfer tax, safe routes to schools, adding analyses of affordable housing and sensitive environmental areas to growth policies, and making the transportation commission elected.

The two bills that died on the floor were our bill to cleanup the Minor Subdivision Review process (HB 586) and our bill to limit the Family Transfer Exemption (SB 287). While we are still trying to figure out what killed the Minor Subdivision bill, losing the Family Transfer Limitation was not such a bad thing in the end. SB 287 had been amended to the point where it no longer would have made much of an impact on the Family Transfer Exemption.

MSGC should see the loss of some of our bills as the beginnings of a campaign for the 2003 legislative session. MSGC will hold a meeting immediately after the session, either in the last week of April or the first weeks of May, to capture the lessons from this session and to begin a campaign to raise public support and to eventually pass bills in future sessions.

We have lots of work to do during the second-half of the session in order:

1. to pass our and other friendly smart growth bills that are still alive; and,
2. to kill bad bills.

* Remember that MSGC's member groups represent over 27,000 people and, if we work together, we can have a remarkable impact on legislation.

GOOD BILLS

*The hearings on both bills will be in the House Appropriation Committee, 3/1 at 8:00 AM.

SB 244, Senator Mike Halligan (D-Missoula): This bill enables local governments to ask the Treasure State Endowment to help pay for infrastructure to affordable housing. This bill gives local governments a new means of subsidizing infrastructure for affordable housing, and in effect encourages them to think about tying other Treasure State Endowment infrastructure proposals to affordable housing projects. Being able to subsidize infrastructure enables more affordable housing to be built inside and adjacent to existing city services.

HJ 24, Rep.Dave Wanzenried (D-Missoula): This joint resolution would direct one of the interim legislative council to study annexation laws and return to the 2003 legislature with suggestions for fixing the laws. MSGC had considered bringing this bill ourselves, but held back because Rep. Wanzenried had already request a bill draft.

SB 303, Sen. Don Hargrove (R-Belgrade): This bill is the result of the Gallatin county open space bond that passed last year. SB 303 enables local governments to reimburse farmers and ranchers the increase in their property taxes caused by the open space bond.

SB 479, Sen. Don Hargrove (R-Belgrade): This bill explicitly empowers local governments to create incentives for the development of cluster developments that place permanent conservation easements on a portion of a subdivision's land.

SB 359, Sen. Mike Halligan (D-Missoula): This bill creates a process for cities to develop voluntary annexation districts so that annexation can take place gradually.

SB 241, Sen. Jack Wells (R-Bozeman): This bill adds two "Citizen Representatives" to a county's planning and zoning board that oversees the management of citizen-initiated zoning districts.

HJ 3/HB 378, Rep. Michelle Lee (D-Livingston): Both of these measures encourage the rebirth of the southern Montana Amtrak route. It is important to support a new, inexpensive rail route that would provide the largest population centers with a non-air and non-automotive transportation option, even though both measures are non-binding and weak.

It is important to defend the $1 million appropriation, versus the $400,000 originally appropriated, for the Montana Agricultural Heritage Program in Section C, of HB 2 (the general fund appropriations bill). This appropriation is essential to keep MAHP alive until more funding will be appropriated in the future for the purchase of conservation easements in order to protect farms and ranches.

*The hearing on MAHP is in the House Appropriations Committee on 3/2 at 8 AM.

BAD BILLS

HB 543, Rep. Roy Brown (R-Billings): This began as the worst land-use bill of the session. It essentially stated that local governments cannot make subdivisions comply with growth policies. However, it was amended so that local governments can pass regulations to require that subdivisions comply with their growth policies. The Realtors and others may try to revive the first, and nastier version of this bill.

HB 513, Rep. Dan Fuchs (R-Billings): This bill eliminates nitrate testing for single-family septic systems. HB 513, like many other bad land-use bills, this one is the brainchild of one developer who was denied approval on a subdivision because it could not pass the nitrate test. We need to get groundwater experts and our members who are worried about their well-water quality being poisoned by septic systems to turn out to the hearing on this bill.

SB 379, Sen. Bob DePratu (R-Whitefish): This bill is a direct attempt to reverse a court decision, in January, 2001, that stated that DNRC land outside of Kalispell could not be developed (for big box stores) without MEPA review and without complying with local Growth Policies. This bill was amended to require DNRC to either comply with local planning requirements or comply with MEPA. Unfortunately, the bill still exempts DNRC from having to comply with MEPA for other planning activities on state lands.

SB 242/470, Sen. Jerry O'Neil (R-Kalispell): These two bills eliminate the ability of cities and towns to govern development that takes place outside their boundaries, but within their extraterritorial districts. They are a response, in many ways, to the recent separation of the Flathead and Kalispell planning offices.

ACTIONS THAT YOU AND THE MEMBERS OF YOUR GROUP
CAN TAKE TO MAKE SMART GROWTH A REALITY
IN THE LEGISLATURE

Actions include:

• Renew your membership in MSGC today.
• Testify for or against at least one MSGC bill during the session.
• Call and write your legislators, 444-4800, asking them to support MSGC's "good bills" and to oppose "bad bills."
• Write letters to the editor, or a guest editorial in your local paper about the need to support MSGC's "good bills" and to oppose "bad bills."

MSGC will continue to send weekly legislative updates, via email, and legislative alerts.

Montana Smart Growth Coalition — PO Box 543 Helena, MT 59624 — 406-449-6086 — smartgrowth@mcn.net