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Senate committee hears hours of debate on HB 119 to create Montana Cattle Committee
Summary
The Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee heard extensive pro and con testimony on House Bill 119, which would authorize a statewide Montana Cattle Committee and enable a producer referendum on a per-head assessment; committee members flagged governance, procurement and Native representation concerns and closed the hearing with no vote.
The Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee heard hours of testimony on House Bill 119 on Tuesday as producers, tribal representatives and agency lawyers debated whether to authorize a Montana Cattle Committee and the process for a potential per-head assessment.
Speaker Lear, sponsor of House Bill 119, told the committee the bill establishes a framework for a statewide cattle committee but does not itself impose any assessment. "This bill is not imposing the tax," the sponsor said, adding that any assessment "would be left up to a referendum of the producers."
Proponents, including Karli Johnson of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation and Jane Curry, chair of the working group that drafted the bill, said the proposal mirrors existing commodity committees in Montana and other states and would allow producers to fund promotion, research and market development for Montana…
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