Hello from Helena. With good fortune and intentions, by the time you read this, the Legislature will have reached a compromise on the state’s budget. This basic constitutional mandate must be accomplished by legislative day 90 (Tuesday). The alterative is a special session either called by a majority vote of the legislature or by the Governor. The 2007 session was unable to reach agreement and the expensive and inconvenient special session was required.

 This past week has been a week of hurry up and wait. Most days saw multiple floor sessions as single bills passed back and forth between the Senate and House for concurrence.

 Further, the Governor has been amending a number of the bills he received from the Legislature. In the background, several conference committees worked to settle differences between the Senate and House versions of bills. Other committees struggled with the budget (as mentioned above) and the property tax reappraisal mitigation.

 At this writing, it appears the reappraisal committee will soon reach its compromise. It’s a difficult issue on which to find a compromise, but hopefully one will be reached that all can live with. I hope to give you the final results on this next week.

 Again, I want to express my pleasure in representing friends and neighbors of Lake County. Working for you has been personally rewarding and the learning curve has been steep, extensive and a source of personal growth. So many of you took the time to contact me and your guidance was invaluable. The people of Montana are fortunate to have a citizen Legislature.

 I’ll be back in St. Ignatius teaching history and driver’s education this week. Please continue to contact me any time. My cell phone is 207-3188 and e-mail is fleming@stignatius.net.