Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

67th Legislature                                                                                                      HB 179.1
                                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 179
                                                 INTRODUCED BY D. BEDEY
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   A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT GENERALLY REVISING LAWS RELATED TO COMMUNITY
   COLLEGES; CLARIFYING THE PROCEDURE FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF AND FUNDING FOR A NEW
   COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT; REVISING THE ELECTION PROCEDURE FOR THE ORGANIZATION
   OF A NEW COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT; REVISING AND CLARIFYING THE FUNDING SOURCES
   AND ACCOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES; CONSOLIDATING VARIOUS EXISTING
   PROPERTY TAX LEVIES INTO ONE OPERATING LEVY; REVISING DEFINITIONS; AMENDING SECTIONS
   17-7-102, 19-20-605, 20-7-702, 20-7-704, 20-7-705, 20-9-134, 20-9-501, 20-15-103, 20-15-105, 20-15-201, 20-
   15-202, 20-15-203, 20-15-204, 20-15-208, 20-15-209, 20-15-309, 20-15-310, 20-15-311, 20-15-312, 20-15-
   313, 20-15-314, 20-15-321, 20-15-403, AND 20-15-404, MCA; REPEALING SECTION 20-15-305, MCA; AND
   PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.”
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   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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              NEW SECTION. Section 1.         Funding for new community college district -- state appropriation.
   (1) The board of trustees of a newly created community college district shall, by August 1 immediately
   preceding the regular legislative session at which the district will first seek a state appropriation, submit to the
   board of regents enrollment projections for each year of the ensuing biennium and an annual budget pursuant
   to 20-15-312 for the first year of the ensuing biennium.
              (2)   The state general fund appropriation for the district must be determined as follows:
              (a)   for the first year of the ensuing biennium:
              (i)   divide the total state appropriation minus any reversions calculated under 17-7-142 and any one-
   time-only appropriations of all community colleges in the budget base fiscal year by the total number of full-time
   equivalent resident students of all community colleges in the budget base fiscal year; and
              (ii) multiply the result of subsection (2)(a)(i) by the projected number of full-time equivalent resident
   students of the new community college for the first year of the ensuing biennium.
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67th Legislature                                                                                                    HB 179.1
              (b)   for the second year of the ensuing biennium multiply the amount calculated in subsection (2)(a)(i)
   by the projected number of full-time equivalent resident students of the new community college for the second
   year of the ensuing biennium.
              (3)   After each fiscal year of the first biennium the new community college district receives a state
   appropriation, the commissioner of higher education shall determine the fiscal impacts that would have resulted
   had the actual number of full-time equivalent resident students for that fiscal year been used to determine that
   fiscal year's state appropriation and determine any overpayment to the community college for that fiscal year.
   An overpayment determined under this subsection must revert to the state in the same manner of reversions
   calculated under 17-7-142.
              (4)   After the first biennium a new community college district receives a state appropriation, the state
   appropriation for the district in subsequent bienniums must be determined as described in 20-15-310.
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              NEW SECTION. Section 2.        Operating levy -- inflationary adjustment. (1) A community college
   district may impose an operating levy to support the district's current unrestricted subfund under the provisions
   of this section.
              (2)   A newly created community college district may impose an operating levy under this section only
   after voter approval for a new mill levy as described in 15-10-425.
              (3)   (a) A community college district may impose an operating levy sufficient to generate the amount
   of property taxes actually assessed by the operating levy in the prior year plus the average rate of inflation for
   the prior 3 years.
              (b)   A community college district that does not impose the maximum number of mills authorized under
   subsection (3)(a) may carry forward the authority to impose the number of mills equal to the difference between
   the actual number of mills imposed and the maximum number of mills authorized to be imposed. The mill
   authority carried forward may be imposed in a subsequent tax year.
              (c)   For the purposes of subsection (3)(a), the department of revenue shall calculate the average rate
   of inflation for the prior 3 years by using the consumer price index, U.S. city average, all urban consumers,
   using the 1982-84 base of 100, as published by the bureau of labor statistics of the United States department of
   labor.
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67th Legislature                                                                                                       HB 179.1
              (d)   A community college district may exceed the mill levy limit provided in subsection (3) only after
   voter approval for increasing a mill levy as described in 15-10-425.
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              Section 3. Section 17-7-102, MCA, is amended to read:
              "17-7-102.    (Temporary) Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
              (1)   "Additional services" means different services or more of the same services.
              (2)   "Agency" means all offices, departments, boards, commissions, institutions, universities, colleges,
   and any other person or any other administrative unit of state government that spends or encumbers public
   money by virtue of an appropriation from the legislature under 17-8-101.
              (3)   "Approving authority" means:
              (a)   the governor or the governor's designated representative for executive branch agencies;
              (b)   the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief justice's designated representative for judicial
   branch agencies;
              (c)   the speaker for the house of representatives;
              (d)   the president for the senate;
              (e)   appropriate legislative committees or a designated representative for legislative branch agencies;
   or
              (f)   the board of regents of higher education or its designated representative for the university system.
              (4)   (a) "Base budget" means the resources for the operation of state government that are of an
   ongoing and nonextraordinary nature in the current biennium. The base budget for the state general fund and
   state special revenue funds may not exceed that level of funding authorized by the previous legislature.
              (b)   The term does not include:
              (i)   funding for water adjudication if the accountability benchmarks contained in 85-2-271 are not met;
              (ii) funding for petroleum storage tank leak prevention if the accountability benchmarks in 75-11-521
   are not met.
              (5)   "Budget amendment" means a temporary appropriation as provided in Title 17, chapter 7, part 4.
              (6)   "Budget stabilization reserve" means the amount of unappropriated fund balance in the budget
   stabilization reserve fund up to 4.5% of all general fund appropriations in the second year of the biennium.
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67th Legislature                                                                                                   HB 179.1
              (7)   "Emergency" means a catastrophe, disaster, calamity, or other serious unforeseen and
   unanticipated circumstance that has occurred subsequent to the time that an agency's appropriation was made,
   that was clearly not within the contemplation of the legislature and the governor, and that affects one or more
   functions of a state agency and the agency's expenditure requirements for the performance of the function or
   functions.
              (8)   "Funds subject to appropriation" means those funds required to be paid out of the treasury as set
   forth in 17-8-101.
              (9)   "Necessary" means essential to the public welfare and of a nature that cannot wait until the next
   legislative session for legislative consideration.
              (10) "New proposals" means requests to provide new nonmandated services, to change program
   services, to eliminate existing services, or to change sources of funding. For purposes of establishing the
   present law base, the distinction between new proposals and the adjustments to the base budget to develop
   the present law base is to be determined by the existence of constitutional or statutory requirements for the
   proposed expenditure. Any proposed increase or decrease that is not based on those requirements is
   considered a new proposal.
              (11) "Operating reserve" means an amount equal to 8.3% of all general fund appropriations in the
   second year of the biennium.
              (12) "Present law base" means that level of funding needed under present law to maintain operations
   and services at the level authorized by the previous legislature, including but not limited to:
              (a)   changes resulting from legally mandated workload, caseload, or enrollment increases or
   decreases;
              (b)   changes in funding requirements resulting from constitutional or statutory schedules or formulas;
              (c)   inflationary or deflationary adjustments; and
              (d)   elimination of nonrecurring appropriations.
              (13) "Program" means a principal organizational or budgetary unit within an agency.
              (14) "Requesting agency" means the agency of state government that has requested a specific budget
   amendment.
              (15) "University system unit" means the board of regents of higher education; office of the
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67th Legislature                                                                                                      HB 179.1
   commissioner of higher education; university of Montana, with campuses at Missoula, Butte, Dillon, and
   Helena; Montana state university, with campuses at Bozeman, Billings, Havre, and Great Falls; the agricultural
   experiment station, with central offices at Bozeman; the forest and conservation experiment station, with central
   offices at Missoula; the cooperative extension service, with central offices at Bozeman; the bureau of mines and
   geology, with central offices at Butte; the fire services training school at Great Falls; and the community
   colleges at Miles City, Glendive, and Kalispell supervised and coordinated by the board of regents pursuant to
   20-15-103. (Terminates June 30, 2028--sec. 11, Ch. 269, L. 2015.)
              17-7-102. (Effective July 1, 2028) Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following definitions
   apply:
              (1)   "Additional services" means different services or more of the same services.
              (2)   "Agency" means all offices, departments, boards, commissions, institutions, universities, colleges,
   and any other person or any other administrative unit of state government that spends or encumbers public
   money by virtue of an appropriation from the legislature under 17-8-101.
              (3)   "Approving authority" means:
              (a)   the governor or the governor's designated representative for executive branch agencies;
              (b)   the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief justice's designated representative for judicial
   branch agencies;
              (c)   the speaker for the house of representatives;
              (d)   the president for the senate;
              (e)   appropriate legislative committees or a designated representative for legislative branch agencies;
   or
              (f)   the board of regents of higher education or its designated representative for the university system.
              (4)   "Base budget" means the resources for the operation of state government that are of an ongoing
   and nonextraordinary nature in the current biennium. The base budget for the state general fund and state
   special revenue funds may not exceed that level of funding authorized by the previous legislature.
              (5)   "Budget amendment" means a temporary appropriation as provided in Title 17, chapter 7, part 4.
              (6)   "Budget stabilization reserve" means the amount of unappropriated fund balance in the budget
   stabilization reserve fund up to 4.5% of all general fund appropriations in the second year of the biennium.
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67th Legislature                                                                                                   HB 179.1
              (7)   "Emergency" means a catastrophe, disaster, calamity, or other serious unforeseen and
   unanticipated circumstance that has occurred subsequent to the time that an agency's appropriation was made,
   that was clearly not within the contemplation of the legislature and the governor, and that affects one or more
   functions of a state agency and the agency's expenditure requirements for the performance of the function or
   functions.
              (8)   "Funds subject to appropriation" means those funds required to be paid out of the treasury as set
   forth in 17-8-101.
              (9)   "Necessary" means essential to the public welfare and of a nature that cannot wait until the next
   legislative session for legislative consideration.
              (10) "New proposals" means requests to provide new nonmandated services, to change program
   services, to eliminate existing services, or to change sources of funding. For purposes of establishing the
   present law base, the distinction between new proposals and the adjustments to the base budget to develop
   the present law base is to be determined by the existence of constitutional or statutory requirements for the
   proposed expenditure. Any proposed increase or decrease that is not based on those requirements is
   considered a new proposal.
              (11) "Operating reserve" means an amount equal to 8.3% of all general fund appropriations in the
   second year of the biennium.
              (12) "Present law base" means that level of funding needed under present law to maintain operations
   and services at the level authorized by the previous legislature, including but not limited to:
              (a)   changes resulting from legally mandated workload, caseload, or enrollment increases or
   decreases;
              (b)   changes in funding requirements resulting from constitutional or statutory schedules or formulas;
              (c)   inflationary or deflationary adjustments; and
              (d)   elimination of nonrecurring appropriations.
              (13) "Program" means a principal organizational or budgetary unit within an agency.
              (14) "Requesting agency" means the agency of state government that has requested a specific budget
   amendment.
              (15) "University system unit" means the board of regents of higher education; office of the
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67th Legislature                                                                                                      HB 179.1
   commissioner of higher education; university of Montana, with campuses at Missoula, Butte, Dillon, and
   Helena; Montana state university, with campuses at Bozeman, Billings, Havre, and Great Falls; the agricultural
   experiment station, with central offices at Bozeman; the forest and conservation experiment station, with central
   offices at Missoula; the cooperative extension service, with central offices at Bozeman; the bureau of mines and
   geology, with central offices at Butte; the fire services training school at Great Falls; and the community
   colleges at Miles City, Glendive, and Kalispell supervised and coordinated by the board of regents pursuant to
   20-15-103."
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              Section 4. Section 19-20-605, MCA, is amended to read:
              "19-20-605.    Pension accumulation account -- employer's contribution. (1) The pension
   accumulation account is the account in which the reserves for payment of retirement allowances and benefits
   must be accumulated and from which retirement allowances and benefits must be paid to retirees or their
   beneficiaries. Employer contributions to the pension accumulation account must be made as provided in 19-20-
   609 and this section.
              (2)   Except as provided in subsection (3), for each member employed during the whole or part of the
   preceding payroll period, the employer shall pay into the pension accumulation account an amount equal to
   9.85% of total earned compensation, plus the supplemental contribution required under 19-20-609.
              (3)   For each member employed by a school district, an education coop