Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Government Agency Reports Elimination topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Montana bill would repeal dozens of routine agency reports; agencies say many are duplicative or unused
Summary
House Bill 562, heard by the Senate committee, would remove a set of statutorily required agency reports that proponents said are outdated, duplicative, or unused; multiple agencies testified that producing some reports consumes staff hours with little legislative interest, and several agencies offered examples and data on time or redundancy.
Rep. Julie Darling introduced House Bill 562, a bill that would eliminate a list of statutorily required reports that proponents described as outdated or duplicative. Speakers from multiple state agencies told the Senate State Administration Committee the reports consume staff time yet yield little legislative or public use.
Lieutenant Governor Kristin Juras said the state's compilation of required reporting (Montana Code Annotated citation 5-11-222) lists more than 225 separate reports; the bill's amended list would remove approximately 15 specific reports deemed unnecessary.
Agency witnesses provided examples of the burden and the lack of use. Larry Flynn of the Department of Transportation said DOT seeks repeal of several reports, including one tied to a tax rebate that has never had an applicant in 30 years. James Fehr of DEQ said one enforcement report takes about 200 employee hours every two years and is rarely discussed in interim committees. Erin Weisgerber of DNRC described five DNRC reports proposed for elimination, saying the information is available elsewhere (for example, a state trust lands public-access map and the agency's annual state trust lands report) and that the required annual water-plan status report duplicates multi-year implementation and revision cycles (the next plan revision is due in 2035).
Other agencies testified in support: Rebecca Decameron (DPHHS) said Montana Medicaid does not operate a managed-care delivery system, making a managed-care report unnecessary; Mandy Rambo (Commerce) said the Department has never received a local-government request for the analysis the statute requires; Cheryl Gray (Department of Administration) said encumbrance reports duplicate data already in the SABHRS financial system and take about 40 staff hours a year; Quentin Kujala (Fish, Wildlife & Parks) explained why a 2015-16 mountain sheep report is complete and duplicate now.
Committee questions and context: Senators asked whether several reports had been a short-term requirement to watch early implementation of programs; agency witnesses said many reports were created decades ago and are no longer used for oversight, and that data remain available on request. The judiciary signaled it may be dropped from the bill by amendment because its retirement fund is solvent.
Ending: Sponsors said the bill would let agencies shift staff time from report preparation to core operations, and asked the committee for concurrence. No committee vote on HB 562 was recorded in the hearing segment provided.
