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Montana lawmaker proposes proportional formula for interim committee appointments
Summary
Representative Ed Staffman introduced House Bill 188 to set interim committee appointments proportional to the legislature’s party composition rather than a fixed 3‑to‑1 rule; proponents said the change would preserve bipartisan study work, while members asked how the formula would interact with redistricting and speaker prerogatives.
Representative Ed Staffman introduced House Bill 188 to the Montana House Legislative Administration Committee, proposing that interim committee appointments be allocated to reflect the legislature’s party composition rather than the 3‑to‑1 majority/minority ratio enacted last session.
Staffman said the bill would apply to the 11 main interim committees listed in statute and described the arithmetic used to reach a proportional allocation. Under current statute each interim committee gets four members; Staffman illustrated that 11 committees therefore yield 44 appointments. Using the house’s party share (about 42% Democratic under the example given), he…
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