Blair Miller

(Every day Montanan) Fights are ramping up on the state Capitol over what to do with Montana’s marijuana tax income and its funding of the Habitat Montana conservation program, as the 2 payments nonetheless shifting via the legislature that tackle each comprise vastly completely different finish objectives.

Conservation and outdoor teams have been loudly outspoken about what they see as efforts to redistribute greater than $8 million a 12 months in marijuana tax income at present allotted to Habitat Montana, exhibiting up en masse to committee hearings to oppose a number of payments and holding a rally attended by a whole lot on the Capitol in late February at which they known as on lawmakers to maintain their palms off the additional funding for this system.

A number of of the teams against shifting the funding away from Habitat Montana stated this week that they had seen a constructive decision when Senate Invoice 442, sponsored by Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta, which had sought to redistribute cash going towards Habitat Montana and different packages to county highway funding, was amended to revive the 20% of marijuana tax income at present going to this system on an ongoing foundation – however via a barely completely different mechanism.

Wild Montana State Coverage Director Noah Marion stated in a press release Thursday the modification was “nice information” for conservation and public land entry and urged lawmakers “to push this invoice over the road directly.”

However one other invoice, Home Invoice 669 from Rep. Invoice Mercer, R-Billings, might get in the way in which of that occuring. It comprises one-time funding for Habitat Montana and different packages at present receiving marijuana income solely via the following biennium.

After the top of FY2025, all marijuana tax income – save for six% allotted to the Therapeutic and Ending Dependancy By means of Restoration and Remedy (HEART) fund – would go to the final fund, and lawmakers would resolve the place and the way it must be spent beginning within the subsequent legislative session.

The explanation for that has additionally cut up Mercer and fellow Republican lawmakers with Democrats and conservation teams, who see a key distinction in how the allocation of the marijuana tax income was cut up up within the first place through the 2021 legislative session via Home Invoice 701.

As he instructed the Home Appropriations Committee through the invoice’s preliminary listening to, throughout govt motion earlier this week, and once more when the invoice was heard on second studying on the Home ground Friday, Mercer believes that I-190, the initiative that voters handed to legalize adult-use marijuana, appropriated the tax income and the way it will be spent.

Mercer and fellow Republicans stated a number of occasions throughout committee and ground discussions that it’s the sole accountability of the legislature below the Montana Structure to applicable cash, and since they declare it was the initiative that outlined how the cash must be spent, the present distribution takes the ability of the purse out of the palms of lawmakers.

“The initiative was a really fascinating method to attempt to say to individuals, ‘Should you vote for this, all these {dollars} will do these varied issues,’ which isn’t permissible below the initiative course of,” Mercer instructed the Appropriations Committee earlier this week. “… The concept that we someway have our palms tied behind our again and might’t resolve easy methods to use income is totally impermissible, and we shouldn’t permit it to proceed.”

Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, stated permitting initiatives to applicable cash would result in a “descent into chaos” and would result in initiatives working public relations campaigns to take action.

Democrats on the ground Friday stated the concept constituents had appropriated cash was flat out fallacious.

Rep. Emma Kerr-Carpenter, D-Billings, famous that through the in depth work on the marijuana framework invoice, HB701, lawmakers made modifications to the income allocations that differed from what had been set as a framework within the initiative.

“I’ll say that many people voted for these modifications as a result of we felt prefer it was our accountability. … We modified the income allocations, identical to this invoice would,” she stated. “Nonetheless, I don’t suppose we have to relitigate 701. We handed the laws final session; why are we voting on this invoice?”

Home Minority Chief Kim Abbott, D-Helena, stated the initiative “completely didn’t” applicable cash however legalized adult-use marijuana and despatched the cash to the particular income account to be distributed how lawmakers wished. Additional, she stated, the funds workplace and Division of Justice stated the expenditures have been topic to legislative appropriation.

“Actually, the voters had an opinion about how we must be spending, however we don’t have comply with these opinions,” she stated. “However simply because we don’t must doesn’t imply we shouldn’t pay attention.”

The $353 million in marijuana gross sales within the 14 months since leisure merchandise got here to market have introduced in $53.8 million in tax income, based on the Hashish Management Division. In a fiscal observe hooked up to Mercer’s invoice, the Governor’s Workplace of Price range and Program Planning forecasts medical and adult-use gross sales will usher in between $52.9 million and $57.9 million in tax income yearly over the following 4 years.

Underneath Mercer’s invoice, the primary $5.2 million would go towards Division of Income administrative prices, then proceed to ship $6 million to the HEART fund, as is the case below present legislation.

However as a substitute of distributing out cash to varied funds from there – 20% for the Habitat Montana program; 4% to a state park account; 4% to a trails and leisure facility account; 4% to a nongame wildlife account; 3% or $200,000 to a veterans and surviving spouses income account; $150,000 to fund disaster intervention crew coaching; and the remainder to the final fund – Mercer’s invoice would ship all the cash going to these accounts to the final fund beginning in FY2026, to the tune of $41 million to $46 million per 12 months.

The overall fund below present legislation would obtain about $30 million and $31 million in FY2026 and FY2027.

The invoice was amended this week in Appropriations to make one-time appropriations for the biennium of $8.7 million to the Habitat Montana program; $1.75 million to the state park account; $1.75 million to the paths and leisure amenities account; $1.75 million to the nongame wildlife account; $2.5 million for conservation districts; and $2.5 million for the veterans and surviving spouses income account.

Mercer stated the modification nonetheless made the conservation and recreation packages entire over the following biennium, however stated it must be as much as future legislatures to find out easy methods to transfer ahead with the cash beginning with the 2025 session.

Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, supplied an instance of what the following legislature would possibly search to do with the marijuana tax income when all the cash is within the normal fund.

“We have now a drug calamity on our palms,” he stated. “In 2025, we’re going to want a small fortune to fund drug remedy and legislation enforcement.”

Reps. Ed Buttrey, R-Nice Falls, Paul Inexperienced, R-Hardin, and Mike Hopkins, R-Missoula, joined all 32 Home Democrats in voting in opposition to the invoice on its second studying, in a 65-35 vote. It can face a 3rd studying earlier than being despatched over to the Senate.

Lang stated he had not but seen Mercer’s invoice, or one other invoice from Republican Rep. Marta Bertoglio which was tabled in favor of Mercer’s, however stated the Senate can be “addressing these as we go down the highway.”

His invoice places 11% of the marijuana tax income to the HEART fund; 20% to a fund to assemble and preserve county roads; 5% to the veterans and surviving spouses income account; 12% whole to the state parks, trails and amenities, and nongame accounts; and 20% to a brand new “habitat legacy account.”

That new habitat legacy account would ship 75% of its funds to the Habitat Montana program, and if the unobligated fund stability goes above $50 million, it will return the surplus to the legacy account to be disbursed to Habitat Montana ongoing tasks in addition to different wildlife habitat enchancment and stewardship tasks.

Habitat Montana’s major supply of funding is licenses purchased by out-of-state hunters, which an FWP official stated earlier this session brings in round $12 million every biennium. Underneath present legislation, the marijuana tax income would put one other $8.3 million to $9.3 million towards this system every of the following 4 years.

Lang instructed the Every day Montanan he needs the tax income to go towards county roads as a result of they tie in with a lot of the entry to public lands in additional rural elements of the state that don’t have the cash wanted to construct and preserve roads.

His invoice is scheduled for its second studying on the Senate ground on Monday, forward of Tuesday’s transmittal deadline for income payments.

He stated he hoped his invoice can be supported by the agricultural and conservation industries, a few of which hinted this week they have been happy with the brand new amended model, over some other income redistribution payments which have been introduced this session.

“I would like [agriculture] to get collectively on this factor; give up capturing one another,” he stated.