Hello from Helena. The biggest news here at Montana’s Legislature was the progress made on House Bill 2  — the basic spending bill.  The appropriations committee trimmed $60 million from the governor’s budget and used this money to fund the children’s health insurance plan. This plan was approved last November by 70 percent of Montana’s voters.

 The committee also maintained reserves of $250 million as the governor requested. A related story tells that the Legislative Fiscal Division’s newest revenue estimate dropped another $41 million. This is the third drop since January as the economic slowdown continues.

 House Bill 645 to receive and appropriate the stimulus money was introduced. Montana will receive about $870 million, with $306 million of that to be spent by the Legislature. So, hearings began on Thursday morning to make these decisions. I testified before the Education Appropriations Committee to put back into the school funding, $10 million for At Risk Students from this money.

 Our basic committee work continued with hearings on licensure for marriage and family therapists, dealing with fires in the wildland-urban interface, and marijuana related crime laws to name a few.

Guest speakers in the House this week were Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Tribal Council Chairman James Steele and U.S. Congressman Denny Rehberg. Chairman Steele delivered the State of the Tribal Nations address to a joint session of the House and Senate. Representative Rehberg spoke about his opposition to the federal stimulus package.

 Tribal Councilmen Charles Morigeau and Steve Lozar attended the tribal speech and a reception that evening. I was pleased to introduce St. Ignatius teacher Dan Durglo and three of his boys as visitors to the legislature.

 My first sponsored bill finished its journey through the legislature this week. This bill makes student loan repayment for teachers easier to understand. The Teacher Loan Repayment law is intended to recruit and retain high quality teachers in Montana.

 I appreciate contacts and visits. My cell phone is 207-3188 and e-mail is fleming@stignatius.met. Please include a physical address in e-mails.