The City Administrator recommend the Council adopt the attached legislative priorities for the Montana State Legislature’s 2021 Session. 

As the Montana State Legislature began earlier this month, it is helpful that the City of Billings have an adopted legislative agenda to pursue for 2021.  This agenda is comprised from the agenda reviewed by the Council in late 2020 and similar to what was adopted by the Council in 2019.  It is intentionally broad to help guide city staff, elected officials and our lobbying team of Greg Dorrington and Aimee Grmoljez. 

Included within our legislative priorities are our two closest legislative partners, the Montana League of Cities and Towns (MLCT) and the Montana Infrastructure Coalition (MIC).  The MLCT is an incorporated, nonpartisan, nonprofit association of 127 Montana municipalities. The League’s sole purpose is the cooperative improvement of municipal government in Montana. It acts as a clearing house through which the municipalities cooperate for their mutual benefit. The MIC is a volunteer group representing over 100 industry, labor, and trade associations, local governments and business entities. Billings is an active board member in both organizations.  These groups have come together to provide reliable information to state and local decision-makers and their constituents regarding the need for public safety and infrastructure investment.
The proposed 2021 Legislative Agenda focuses on five primary goals:

• Enhance public safety and security;
• Facilitate sustainable economic development of the City and region;
• Increase investments in critical infrastructure to support our economy;
• Lower the tax burden on property owners, supporting programs where users of government services pay for those services; 
• Support self-governing powers

Therefore, the City Council of the City of Billings adopts the following priorities for the 2021 Legislative Session:

1. Public Safety - Support legislation providing enhanced safety, health and security for Billings residents; fight drug abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking and associated crime; reduce vagrancy, homelessness and increase resources for mental health services.
    
2. Economic Development - Support legislation that facilitates private investment in Billings.
    
3. Infrastructure - Support legislation that increases investments in infrastructure critical to supporting our economy.
    
4. Shift Tax Burden - Support legislation shifting the tax burden from Billings property owners to users of government services, where appropriate.
    
5. MLCT/Self Governing Powers - Support, in general, the Montana League of Cities and Towns' Legislative Resolutions (see attached).
    
6. MIC - Support, in general, Montana Infrastructure Coalition legislative efforts.

Also, in preparation for the upcoming session we have held two widely attended Zoom meetings with most of our Billings delegation and two smaller meetings with a handful of legislators who are working on specific public safety improvements.  We are targeting reducing the disproportionate number of parolees that are released into our community and working to have the State remove inmates from our local jail whose cases have been adjudicated by the court.  Both issues are significantly adding to our city’s challenges to improve the safety of Billings.
 

City Council may:

• Approve, or; 1 - Create and pass an amended set of legislative priorities. 2 - forgo having an adopted set of legislative priorities for the 2021 session of the Montana State Legislature. 
• Disapprove:

Creating our legislative agenda has little direct cost.  Success or failure throughout the 2021 legislative process typically has significant fiscal impacts, both short and long term.