Montana HB - 462: Worth your time Marijuana Taxes & Access

[Big Fin]

I should know better than to try take a couple days of vacation with Mrs. Fin when the legislature is in session. I'm writing this from a hotel room in Eugene, OR. Sorry for the brevity

On Wednesday, February 15th, the House Appropriations will hear HB 462. Link here - https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2023/billpdf/HB0462.pdf

This bill would take away the money that was promised to Habitat Montana under the Marijuana Referendum from 2020. It is another attack on conservation, habitat, and access. No other way to say it.




It gets so tiring to put up with this BS. I was on the fence about legalizing marijuana. Yeah, I'm a bit of stick in the mud, but I probably would have stuck with my NO vote, had it not promised to help fund Habitat Montana with a portion of the tax revenues. So, I voted for it under that premise. I was waffling enough that without that incentive toward access and conservation, I probably would have voted against it.

Now comes HB 462. It will change how those revenues are allocated. And guess what program and what group gets screwed without getting kissed? Yeah, Habitat Montana and the hunters and landowners who benefit from those transactions.

Here are the committee members who will hear this bill. If you know any of them personally, your comments can make a big difference.

Jones, Llew (R) ‑ Chair Keenan, Bob (R) ‑ Vice Chair Caferro, Mary (D) ‑ Vice Chair Bedey, David (R) Binkley, Michele (R) Falk, Terry (R) Fitzpatrick, John (R) Gillette, Jane (R) Hamilton, Jim (D) Hastings, Naarah (R) Hellegaard, Lyn (R) Hopkins, Mike (R) Keogh, Connie (D) Kerr-Carpenter, Emma (D) Mercer, Bill (R) Moore, Terry (R) Nave, Fiona (R) Read, Joe (R) Regier, Matt (R) Schillinger, Jerry (R) Stewart Peregoy, Sharon (D) Tuss, Paul (D) Windy Boy, Jonathan (D)

Here are their emails. I would ask that you contact them before the hearing Wednesday at 3pm. Be polite and professional, and most of all, persistent:

[email protected]
[email protected]
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[email protected]
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[email protected]
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[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
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[email protected]
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[email protected]

 

[Ben Lamb]

The hearing is Wednesday, not Tuesday, FYI.

This is a big issue, and if folks can take the time to send in your thoughts, please do so. TO be frank, the committee is not going to ask about the policy behind this effort. They put it in appropriations simply because they want to take the funding, and the fix is in.

Normally, a bill like this would to go House Taxation first to discuss the policy, but since it's in appropriations, that limits the kind of testimony.

Regardless, please reach out to the committee and express your concern that this takes roughly $15-20 million a year away from the Habitat Montana program in an era where land prices are through the roof, pressure on developing private land is at an all time high, and that this ignores the will of the voters.

With over $2 billion in surplus, there is no need to fund good & deserving programs with this revenue stream. Rather than hand out bonus checks to people who own houses in Big Sky or the Yellowstone club, the Legislature should invest in our future, and not monkey around with programs that work.

Hit 'em hard folks. This bill is greased.

 

[rustednuts]

FYI

Thanks for contacting me but I am sorry to say there has been an administrative mix-uTherefore, please email me at [email protected]. Or text me at------
Thanks,
Representative Mary Caferro
HD 82 Helena, MT

 

[sacountry]

Emails sent. Thanks @Big Fin

 

[Luke_with_a_lab]

Emails sent. Interesting to see how this one turns out.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

Disappointing to see. Emails sent. Asked family and friends to do the same.

 

[Southern Elk]

Email sent to all of them. Where are they trying to divert the money to?

 

[Jock Conyngham]

The bill’s hearing has been postponed to Thursday at 3.

 

[mdhunter]

That what they did with the approval of casinos in our area. "Its for the schools" until its not.

 

[Griztrax]

Thank you, Randy!

I'm now sitting in the chairperson seat for FWP's Region 4 CAC. We have a meeting this Thursday where we will discuss this legislation and other proposed bills. We disccused the potential for this back in December and had strong consensus against it. I have borrowed your list above and sent it to the R4 CAC members in hopes many of them will contact the legislators on the list. Thank you for taking time away from your vacation to get the word out!!

Mark Traxler
R4 CAC Chair

 

[Ben Lamb]

Email sent to all of them. Where are they trying to divert the money to?

The funding would be diverted to a variety of programs including more prison guards, more resources for the highway patrol to become state cops (not in the MT constitution) the HEART fund (drug addiction & mental health) and to Veterans. All worthy and necessary programs, but with $2.6 billion sitting in the bank, there is no real need to rob conservation to pay for these.

A better approach is to simply fund these programs through HB2, the Budget, with the surplus, rather than give tax breaks to millionaires with 2,3,4 homes in MT through property tax abetments.

We're being offered a false choice, quite frankly.

 

[JEL]

In my email to the committee members I mentioned that this was an initiative passed by public vote and it should take a public vote to change it.

Rep Mike Hopkins sent me this as a response to that.

"More than happy to read over comments dealing with funding for wildlife habitat, but just to be clear, everything having to do with the initiative ceased to exist when HB701 was passed in 2021. HB701 overwrote and replaced the entirety of the initiative in State Statute. Just thought I would throw that out there."

I contend that the basis of the law was still a vote including the funding piece. Just wondering @Ben Lamb if you have any thoughts on this?

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Dude I agree whole heartedly. I am certainly a believer in natural medicine, from turmeric, garlic, or fish oils, I think it’s better than pills. HOWEVER, I would have not voted for legalization had it not been for these huge benefits to our FWP. I couldn’t care less about most of the other beneficiaries to the taxation, frankly.

I was very upset when I heard the governor wanted to “re-direct” those funds

 

[Ben Lamb]

In my email to the committee members I mentioned that this was an initiative passed by public vote and it should take a public vote to change it.

Rep Mike Hopkins sent me this as a response to that.

"More than happy to read over comments dealing with funding for wildlife habitat, but just to be clear, everything having to do with the initiative ceased to exist when HB701 was passed in 2021. HB701 overwrote and replaced the entirety of the initiative in State Statute. Just thought I would throw that out there."

I contend that the basis of the law was still a vote including the funding piece. Just wondering @Ben Lamb if you have any thoughts on this?

Mike is a great guy and he is mostly correct, but even with that being said - the will of the voters, and the resultant legislation, made a commitment that this funding would be there.

 

[Nameless Range]

Has the RMEF stated a position on this? I can't find anything. I don't ask in the name of pointing it out if they don't, I ask because if I could point to RMEF being opposed to this, it would likely carry a fair bit more weight with a lot more Montanans than if I link to the positions of MWF, BHA, or Wild Montana.

 

[mtnkid85]

Done and Done!

 

[sacountry]

Mike is a great guy and he is mostly correct, but even with that being said - the will of the voters, and the resultant legislation, made a commitment that this funding would be there.

I'm confused here Ben. Is Hopkins saying that we're essentially crying over spilt milk because of HB701? I just skimmed all of 701 and it still shows 20% to habitat. Help understand because he seems almost to be saying what's done is done with regard to changes in the marijuana laws (laws being obviously different from the appropriations).

 

[hank4elk]

Wow. I'd be pissed too.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Am I the only one that sent half my emails out from those links, got distracted, and realized coming back to it that it takes forever to link, copy,paste, that many times??? There’s gotta be an easier way to send the other half the same message at the same time, right? You graph drawing dudes?

 

[golfer]

Am I the only one that sent half my emails out from those links, got distracted, and realized coming back to it that it takes forever to link, copy,paste, that many times??? There’s gotta be an easier way to send the other half the same message at the same time, right? You graph drawing dudes?

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