MCV Legislative Hotlist: January 19, 2009
Submitted by Sarah Cobler on January 19, 2009 - 5:05pm
Dear Conservation Voter,
The Montana Legislative Session is well underway, and conservation and environmental lobbyists are working hard to defend our Montana.
Read on to learn how to help...
Legislative Hotlist
The State Legislative Hotlist keeps you up-to-date each week on key environmental and conservation-related bills under consideration in the Montana Legislature.
Click to view our House and Senate Hotlists, which summarize the conservation community position on bills, give a quick summary, and describe where the bill is in the process (committee hearing, pending executive action, awaiting action on the floor).
The bills appearing in the Hotlist are backed by one or more groups that are part of a diverse coalition of environmental and conservation groups working in the legislature - more than a dozen of the states' leading conservation and environmental policy experts.
Stream access inspires dozens of sportsmen and women to action
Last week, conservationists and others supported an extraordinarily important stream access bill, House Bill 190, sponsored by our friend Rep. Kendall Van Dyk (D-Billings).
In case you don't recall, House Bill 190 would clarify the obligations of counties, landowners, and recreationists for accommodating access at public rights of way on county bridges.
Right now, the public has a right to access rivers and streams at county bridges. However, private land owners, particularly those with livestock, want and may need to build abutting fences. Problem is, that right now in law, there are no legal fences connected to these bridges. As you can imagine, this can lead to conflict between someone trying to take their boat out on a Saturday (reasonably) and someone who needs to keep the cows in (also reasonably).
It is not too late to urge the Fish Wildlife and Parks committee to support stream access! Please take a moment to call the legislators on the House FWP committee today at 406-444-4800. Ask them to support House Bill 190.
People have long disagreed about how to handle this situation, but House Bill 190 represents a gate to compromise, providing working solutions for all parties. Dozens of people, ranging from Attorney General Steve Bullock, who drafted the stream access law, to various rod and gun club members and conservationists stood in line to support the bill. Notably, Republican lawmakers Rep. Wayne Stahl and Sen. Jim Shockley delivered compelling testimony for HB 190.
Shifting gears- reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency
This week, lawmakers in both the House Human Services Committee and the Senate State Administration Committee consider energy conservation and efficiency measures.
Rep. Sue Dickenson (D-Great Falls) (yes, the famed mom of former all-star Grizzly quarterback Dave Dickenson) proposes House Bill 20, which uses funds from the oil and gas production tax to fund weatherization programs for low-income Montanans. We think this a fabulous idea, and hope you'll contact members of the House Human Services Committee and ask for their support.
In one of his many bills aimed at reducing Montanan's power bills and our contribution to global warming, Sen. Dave Wanzenried (D-Missoula) offers the Senate State Administration Committee Senate Bill 49. This bill would require minimum energy efficiency standard for new state buildings and state buildings undergoing major renovations. Please contact members of the Senate State Administration Committee and urge them to vote "yes" on SB 49.
As always, learn more about the conservation community's legislative priorities at www.mtvoters.org.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Cobler, Program Director, Montana Conservation Voters
sarah@mtvoters.org phone 406.581.2284| Attachment | Size |
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| hotlisthouse20090119.pdf | 19.41 KB |
| hotlistsenate20090119.pdf | 12.9 KB |
