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Committee hears hours of testimony on Senate Bill 517; senators table bill after mixed turnout
Summary
Senate Bill 517 would limit irrigation district commissioner elections so only residents of a division vote for that division’s commissioner. Proponents said the change restores geographic representation; opponents said it risks concentrating power among large landowners. The committee voted to table the bill.
Senators of the Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation committee heard more than two hours of testimony on Senate Bill 517 before moving to table the measure.
Senator Josh Casimir, sponsor of SB 517, said the bill would require a commissioner to reside in the division for which they run and limit voting for that seat to residents of that division. "What it's simply doing is... a person that must reside in the district and the only people that get to vote is the people that live in that district," Casimir said when introducing the bill.
Proponents — including Riley Denning of the Fort Shaw Irrigation District and Spencer Pearson of the Greenfield Irrigation District — told the committee that allowing only division residents to vote for their division’s…
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