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Legislative subcommittee trims PSC staffing; commission urges reinstatement of rail-inspector position
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee’s Section D subcommittee approved most of the Public Service Commission budget but did not fund one requested personnel package (DP 200) intended to support contested‑case document management and legal workflows; the commission urged reinstatement and reiterated its unanimous support for House Bill 103 adding rail inspectors.
The House Appropriations Committee's Section D subcommittee approved a reduced budget for the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) but declined to fund one full personnel budget (DP 200) the commission asked for to support contested-case work and documentation and to free the PSC paralegal for legal research. Commission officials and some legislators pressed the panel to reinstate that position and to consider additional rail inspectors tied to House Bill 103.
The PSC asked the committee for an additional personnel budget item that the agency classified as an administrative assistant but described to the panel as a multi‑task position to log and manage legal documents, discovery responses and party lists for contested cases and MAPA proceedings. Commissioner Jennifer Fielder said the role “would be able to handle basically logging all of the legal documents” and free the agency paralegal to perform legal research; the commission asked the Legislature to consider amending the HB2 package to restore DP 200.
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