The Montana State Senate’s Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs committee finally held a hearing on House Bill 579 (HB 579) yesterday.

In case you don’t have all the bills in the Montana Legislature memorized by now, House Bill 579 is (take a breath):

An Act establishing a military strategic and economic impact task force concerning retention and development of military installations and force structures to provide economic development opportunities in Montana; allocating the task force to the department of commerce for administrative purposes; providing for task force membership, expense reimbursement, and duties; providing appropriations; and providing an effective date.

The Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs committee should pass the bill out of their committee quickly, and HB 579 should be brought to the floor of the Montana State Senate and receive the Senate’s full support. It passed out of the Montana House with an impressive 74-25 vote. I’ll have more on that vote later in this commentary.

According to a story in today’s (April 11) Great Falls Tribune, the bill “drew support from a number of military, business and veterans across the state, but came under heavy fire from those involved with the Montana Defense Alliance, or MTDA.”

The MTDA, which was previously called the “Central Montana Defense Alliance,” is an exclusive committee of the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce with an annual membership fee of $300.

Back in October 2010, I wrote about the need for a state-wide organization to support Montana’s military “to ensure the state has the resources and personnel to engage the Department of Defense or defense contractors for more military missions and jobs. These people would look at the military from a state-wide view.”

So I am glad they are doing this even if it makes MTDA throw a tantrum.

I gave the MTDA a failing grade in October 2010. I also wrote that it’s good to have “boots on the ground” meaning a local group to keep their finger on the pulse, but I was not sold on the MTDA being that group. I praised the Chamber’s other military group, the Military Affairs Committee (they have a different mission), and wrote if they made some improvements they could get back to the level that garnered some awards from the Air Force a few years ago.

The Tribune reporter also asked Montana’s two U.S. Senators about HB 579. By the way, U.S. Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester don’t get to vote on HB 579. They basically said they would continue to work with the MTDA even if the state-wide task force was approved.

Baucus and Tester did not really have much of a choice except to give a politically correct answer since a negative answer would anger the local Chamber group. Realistically, they will work with the group/person who can give them the best guidance on the military issue they are seeking advice about, period.

The 74-25 vote in the Montana House, showed that HB 579 has bipartisan support from every (if my count was correct) state representative from Cascade County which is the home of Malmstrom AFB and the Montana Air National Guard (and the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce). State Representatives from House District 18 through House District 26 (nine districts) that are represented by both Republicans and Democrats all voted for HB 579.

You can draw your own conclusions as to why the bill received (what looks like) unanimous support from the Cascade County state representatives.

I applaud those state representatives for their commitment to Montana’s military. I encourage all 50 members of the Montana State Senate to follow their lead and pass HB 579 before this legislative session ends. I urge Governor Steve Bullock to sign the bill.

With cuts being planned all through the Department of Defense, Montana needs a unified voice on defense issues now. HB 579 gives Montanans that unified voice.

Follow me on Twitter @TheWesternWord

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