Montana State Legislature

2007-2008 Education and Local Government Committee

The Education and Local Government (ELG) Interim Committee is a joint bipartisan committee of the legislature that meets between legislative sessions. The ELG's statutory duties include review of proposed administrative rules and draft legislation, as well as completing any studies assigned to it. They also entail monitoring the operations of, and providing information to, the State Board of Education, Board of Public EducationBoard of Regents of Higher Education, and the Office of Public Instruction. Lastly, the ELG acts as a liaison with local governments, providing an important forum for discussion of strong, effective governance at the community and county level.

HB 49 - Subcommittee 9/4/08

K-12 Subcommittee

Full ELG Committee

K-12 Subcommittee

K-12/PEPB Joint Subcommittee

Full ELG Committee

K-12 Subcommittee

Full ELG Committee

K-12 Subcommittee

Joint K-12 and PEPB Subcommittee

December 13, 2007 HB 49 Subcommittee

Full ELG Committee

HB 49 Subcommittee

K-12 Subcommittee

Full ELG Committee

HJR 22 study - Payback and Incentive for Dental Students
HB 49 study - Study local government special purpose districts

Proposed Legislation

  • LC0151 - Resolution requesting study of community college establishment process
  • LC0152 - Provides dental incentive account & dental extension program
  • LC0153 - Clarifies the community college establishment process
  • LC0154 - Approves the Bitterroot Valley Community College
  • LC2345 - Urges K-12 entities to develop shared policy goals and accountability measures
  • LC3456 - Urges K-20 entities to develop shared policy goals and accountability measures
  • LC9208 - Revises laws relating to local gov't special districts
  • LC9209 - Housekeeping legislation re: local gov't special districts
  • LC1234 - An Act creating a local government committee and establishing the duties of the committee.
  • LC5555 - A Joint Resolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the State of Montana requesting an interim study to examine options for improving administrative efficiencies in the public school system.
  • LC2222 - Statewide pay schedule for certain teachers and specialists
  • LCBook - An Act revising certain provisions of the information access Montana act

HB 49 requires the Education and Local Government committee (ELG) to establish a subcommittee to conduct a study of local government special purpose districts. The study must include a review of current law with regard to special purpose districts, an inventory of existing special purpose districts, and a determination of whether it may be appropriate to consolidate processes for various special purpose districts into one set of statutes. The subcommittee members include legislators and city and county officials.

ELG's presiding officer appoints subcommittee members after considering recommendations from the Montana Association of Counties and the Montana League of Cities and Towns.

Membership

Legislators:

Sen. Kim Gillan (chair)
Rep. Gary Branae (vice-chair) 
Sen. Rick Laible
Rep. Bill Nooney 

City/County Officials:
Mike McGinley, Beaverhead County Commissioner
Paula Robinson, Flathead County Clerk & Recorder
Paulette DeHart, Lewis & Clark County Clerk & Recorder/Treasurer
Shoots Veis, Billings City Councilman
Ed Meece, Livingston City Manager
Marty Rehbein, Missoula City Clerk

Meeting Schedule

No further meetings are scheduled. The subcommittee's work is complete. Clickhere to review the subcommittee's final work report, proposed draft legislation, and related documents.

 

September 5, 2008 
Subcommittee Summary Work Report, as reviewed by the full Education and Local Government Committee. To see the final publication click here.
LC9208: "Uniform Act," as amended and approved by the subcommittee on 9/4/08
LC9209: Revisions to existing special district laws, as amended and approved by the subcommittee on 9/4/08
Comparative Analysis of existing special district laws to the "Uniform Act," conducted by the Montana Association of Counties

September 4, 2008
Time: 1-4:30 p.m. **Updated**
Location: Capitol, Room 350, Helena
Agenda **Updated 8/26/08**
Minutes 
Draft Summary Work Report
Draft Legislation to be considered: 
     1. LC9208: Uniform Act, updated 8/18/08 
     2. LC9209: Housekeeping legislation, updated 8/18/08 

July 29, 2008
Agenda
Minutes
Draft Legislation to be considered: 
     1. LC9208: Uniform Act, updated 7/3/2008
     2. LC9209: Housekeeping legislation, updated 7/3/2008
Map of MSU Campus
Map of Strand Union Building

May 29, 2008
Agenda 
Minutes
Uniform Act: draft legislation (LC9208) 
Alphabetized chart: Summary of existing processes for creating and operating special districts in Montana

December 13, 2007
Agenda
Minutes

October 2, 2007
Agenda
Minutes

 

Assigned Study

HB 49

Publications

HB 49 Subcommittee: Special Districts
An interim study of local government special purpose districts

Submitted to the 61st Legislature

PEPB is an interim subcommittee appointed by the Education and Local Government Interim Committee to recommend legislation, conduct program evaluation, and monitor the budgets for the Montana University System and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. For the 2011 Biennium the Education and Local Government Interim Committee opted not to establish the PEPB.

Members of PEPB included bi-partisan representation from the House and Senate, as well as representatives from the Board of Regents, and an appointee by the executive.

The Commissioner of Higher Education served as an ex-officio member. The PEPB was staffed by Pam Joehler of the Legislative Fiscal Division, and by former legislative staff attorney Jeremy Gersovitz.

9/25/07:

12/13/07:

3/13/08:

6/12/08:

9/04/08:

September 2008 Meeting Reports

June 2008 Meeting Reports

March 2008 Meeting Reports

December 2007 Meeting Reports

September 2007 Meeting Reports

PEPB Subcommittee Members: Sen. Bob Hawks - Chair, Rep. Bob Lake, Sen. Jim Peterson, Rep. Robin Hamilton, Regent Stephen Barrett, Ex-Officio Sheila Stearns, Regent Clayton Christian, Ex-Officio Jan Lombardi, Pam Joehler, Jeremy Gersovitz

HJR 22 Workgroup Scheduled Meetings

June 11, 2008:

December 12, 2007

HJR 22 Work Group Reports

March 12, 2008

The formation of a K-12 subcommittee creates the opportunity for (1) an initial review and framing of key issues that can then be reported to the full committee with findings or nonbinding recommendations, (2) deeper immersion by its members in complex education issues, and (3) a special opportunity for the four legislative subcommittee members to work side by side with four non-legislative members drawn from the education community. Although this subcommittee's remit is K-12 issues, there is broad interest in viewing the transition from grade 12 to higher education (or the workforce) more seamlessly. Thus the K-12 subcommittee may sometimes meet jointly with the PEPB subcommittee on education issues that straddle the purview of both.

 

Membership

Sen. Sam Kitzenberg (chair) (D)
Sen. Dave Lewis (R)
Rep. Wanda Grinde (D)
Rep. John Ward (R)

BPE Member, Patty Myers
BPE Member, Dr. Kirk Miller
Ex-Officio, Supt. Linda McCulloch
Ex-Officio, Jan Lombardi

Other Readings 

U.S. versus Foreign Test Scores

Chance Favors the Prepared

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