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Bill to abolish county printing board and set legal-ad pricing advances out of committee hearing
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Summary
Senate Bill 12 would dissolve the 60-year-old board of county printing, move duties to the Department of Administration and establish published pricing with an annual inflation adjustment. Proponents from the department, general services and newspapers said the negotiated amendment resolves prior objections.
HELENA — The House State Administration Committee heard testimony March 17 on Senate Bill 12, sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Trevis, a measure to abolish the Board of County Printing and transfer its duties to the Department of Administration.
Trevis, of Great Falls, described negotiated amendments that set pricing for printed legal notices and an annual adjustment process. “Page 2 has some adjustments to that pricing and inflation factor. Again, just for certainty … the department shall publish adjusted prices as printing these notices,” Trevis said.
Misty Ann Giles, director of the Department of Administration, told the committee the proposal follows research of practices in other states and reflects agreement with industry stakeholders. “We no longer believe that we need a board,” Giles said, describing the board as more than 60 years old and rarely meeting. The bill, she said, includes a mechanism to index pricing using either 2 percent or the consumer price index, whichever is less, and requires the department to publish adjusted rates.
Steve Bayamonte, general services administrator, said the shift would reduce administrative work for his agency and create a simple annual adjustment mechanism. Jim Strauss, a retired publisher who testified for the Montana Newspaper Association, said the association supports the bill as amended following negotiations that addressed newspaper concerns about having a predictable mechanism for modest annual increases. Strauss noted the current county rate had not been updated since 2018 and said the amendment puts the last approved $14-per-insertion rate in statute while reducing subsequent-insertion rates to $12.
Committee members asked how the amended bill differs from prior attempts. Strauss said prior sessions lacked a mechanism for modest annual change; the negotiated amendment and indexing provision resolved the association’s objections.
No committee vote was recorded during the hearing. Proponents asked for a do-pass recommendation; there were no opponents signed up for the hearing.
If enacted, the bill would remove a rarely convened board and place responsibility for setting and publishing legal-advertising rates with the Department of Administration, using the statutory price table and an annual adjustment tied to inflation.
