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Bill would shift county printing oversight to Department of Administration, set pricing index; newspapers now supportive
Summary
Sen. Jeremy Trevis sponsored SB 12 to abolish the Board of County Printing and transfer oversight to the Department of Administration with a pricing mechanism (annual 2% or CPI, whichever is less). The department and the Montana Newspaper Association — previously opposed — backed the amended bill as a workable compromise.
Senator Jeremy Trevis, R-Great Falls, told the House State Administration committee that Senate Bill 12 would eliminate the Board of County Printing and move its duties to the Department of Administration. The sponsor said negotiated amendments add price certainty for newspaper legal notices.
"This does two important things. It eliminates the board of county printing, puts it in the hands of the DOA, and then sets some price certainty for those responsible for printing these notices," Trevis said in opening remarks.
Misty Ann Giles, director of the Department of Administration, described the board as largely inactive over decades and said the DOA and industry negotiated an amendment: an annual adjustment equal to 2 percent or the consumer-price index, whichever is less, and explicit dollar amounts on the face of the bill. Giles asked the committee for a do-pass recommendation.
"We did significant research of all 50 states of how this works as it relates to controlling printing charges and came to an agreement," Giles said.
Supporters included General Services Administrator Steve BiaMonte, who said the change would reduce administrative work and create an auto-adjusting price mechanism, and Don Harris, DOA chief legal counsel, who said the county funding rate had not been updated since 2018. Jim Strauss, representing the Montana Newspaper Association and a former board member, said he supported the bill as amended, praising the mechanism for modest annual increases and the outreach that produced the compromise.
Committee members asked how agreed dollar amounts were determined and whether the changes would "make the newspapers whole." Strauss said the $14 rate reflected the last county board-approved rate and explained how subsequent-insertion rates were set in the amendment.
The sponsor closed by noting the bill had failed previously but now has broader support after negotiation; the committee closed the hearing on SB 12.
