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Committee concurs in study to examine moving fiscal notes to legislative staff
Summary
Katie Zolnikov presented HJ 40, a study to assess whether Montana's legislative fiscal division could prepare fiscal notes now done by the executive budget office; senators cited past examples of "death by fiscal note," and the committee concurred and sent the study to the floor by voice vote.
Representative Katie Zolnikov presented House Joint Resolution 40 on behalf of Representative Sullivan, asking the committee to study what it would take for the legislative branch to prepare fiscal notes rather than the executive branch budget office. Zolnikov said the study would examine whether the legislative fiscal division has the capacity to produce notes and whether earlier collaboration during drafting could reduce confusion and late amendments when fiscal notes arrive.
Zolnikov told the committee that fiscal notes are currently prepared by the executive branch's budget office and that some legislators question whether partisan politics influence those estimates. "By moving those fiscal notes from the executive branch... to our legislative fiscal division, which is nonpartisan... would we see some better results?" she asked.
Supporters said the study could address what some members called "death by fiscal note," pointing to past examples where large fiscal estimates effectively killed bills. Senator Zolnikov (a committee member, separate from the presenter) and others described instances in which departments and the budget office produced estimates that committee members viewed as inflated or inconsistent.
Senator Ambridge moved that the committee concur in HJ 40. After brief discussion about past fiscal-note disputes and the potential benefits of legislative control of fiscal estimates, the committee approved the study by voice vote. The chair announced that HJ 40 "has passed" and been concurred in; a committee member volunteered to carry the measure on the floor.
The study will now proceed as an interim assignment for the legislature to review capacity, processes and any implications of moving fiscal-note production to legislative staff.
