Operating Guidelines: Legislative Session 2023

OPERATING GUIDELINES: By Cory Lee Ann Shaw MBIA Executive Director

LEGISLATIVE SESSION 2023

activity, and we need to establish a clear and effective communication channel that will provide the best information disbursement, as well as a responsive audience that will keep our legislative team well informed and able to communicate effectively with our legislators.

I foresee a very busy Legislative Session this year with our key issues being water, attainable housing and development, property tax,

growth plans/local jurisdictional issues.

I believe that there are opportunities for big and positive changes in all areas we operate, and I feel we can make excellent change if we work together and communicate effectively.

The following guidelines are meant to help guide the Association’s activities during the 2023 Legislative Session.

To ensure that each local HBA has a direct role in the weekly bill review process, each local HBA will designate two (2) local legislative contacts to serve as their specific representatives on the MBIA Legislative Committee. These individuals, if possible, should also be members of the MBIA Board of Directors so that there is a direct link and endorsement of all policy positions by a representative body of the MBIA Board of Directors. These individuals shall be appointed by the president of the local HBA or board of each local HBA. These individuals have the ultimate responsibility of representing their local HBA in the industry legislative process.

The local Legislative Committee shall have the direct responsibility to communicate policy decisions and policy questions from MBIA to their local membership in whatever fashion is deemed appropriate by the given local HBA and must communicate talking points and positions back up to the MBIA EO. In some cases, this role may be given to the local EO at the discretion of the local HBA Legislative Committee. The Executive Director needs to know whom to communicate with and the preferred channel of communication.

It is imperative that the industry speaks in one unified voice during the Legislative Session. Once an issue position is adopted by the statewide MBIA Legislative Committee, as detailed below, that position should not be reversed within MBIA or publicly contradicted by any local HBA.

The MBIA Legislative Committee will meet periodically during the most active parts of the Session to review current issues and pending bill questions. While the meetings will be open to any MBIA member, all local legislative contacts / committee appointees are urged to attend.

Leading up to session starting in July—October the Government Affairs Chair and EO will have monthly calls until the November elections are in, at which time there will be calls with the entire committee to discuss strategy, etc. These committee calls will take place on

November 17th at 3pm and December 15th at 3pm. These calls will, be to identify our champions, strategy, and opportunities. As a ote, bills will begin to drop in December.

Starting January 3, a weekly conference call will be held during legislative working group meetings to review any major developments and recommendations from the committee. At this time, we will plan on the conference calls taking place every Tuesday morning at 7am during the legislative session.

Prior to each meeting, the MBIA executive Director will email to designated local legislative contacts, each local EO, and MBIA Executive Committee a bill status report, a summary of key decisions made, and description of any major pending issues requiring input. It is the responsibility of the local legislative contacts / committee or local EO to distribute this material to members as appropriate.

Due to the fast pace of the Legislature, the nature of negotiations in the legislative process, workload, and the sheer number of decisions that must be made, the executive director and appointed Legislative Committee must be empowered with certain discretion to be effective. MBIA is dependent on the judgment of their Executive Director to know when further policy discussions are necessary with the Legislative Committee or the MBIA Executive Committee. There should also be discretion as to what bills rate in priority. At MBIA that discretion lies with the Executive Director and the Legislative Committee as time permits.

a. For many legislative decisions, previous Board policy will allow the Executive Director to make the necessary calls.

This is necessary to keep the process moving at the pace set by the Legislature. b. In the area of technical issues or mid-level policy questions, the Executive Director will exercise discretion to consult with representatives of the Legislative

Committee as to the appropriate posture. c. No member of the Association shall speak on behalf of the Association or represent themselves as presenting the views of the Association without prior knowledge and approval of the Executive Director. The Executive

Director shall be the central coordinator of all Association testimony, positions, and strategy.

At times during the Session, it is necessary to activate a grassroots telephone tree or email alert and/or stacking of public hearings with members. Each local HBA is responsible for establishing their own system for responding to such requests from MBIA. A single key contact is often more effective than a mass of letters or phone calls, so if we have members with close legislative relationships, it is often better that they make the direct call, and this will be left to the local HBA’s to implement.

It is recommended that the local EO, local legislative contacts, and any interested MBIA members learn how to use the State Computer Bulletin Board Service. If you have interest in a specific bill or the status of a particular bill or for up-to-date information about the legislative proceedings and legislative information, log onto the LAWS system for the 2023 session at: (Link to be provided when available. We will set up a member link separate from the working MBIA link and will update passwords as needed.)

WATER: We hold the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation accountable to preserving the rights of Montanans for access to our most abundant natural resource, which is essential for clean and healthy living. We need a streamlined and more transparent new appropriation process, we want adjudication completed, and we maintain that exempt wells are a necessity for development.

TAXES: We aim to keep our government in line when it comes to raising property taxes to fuel uncontrolled spending and mismanaged budgets. It is not the sole responsibility of the homeowner or landowner to foot bad spending due to poor government policy and we are here to stand for our homeowners and builders in effort to keep housing attainable.

newly (in progress) formed Foundation, we aim to bring safety, education, and job opportunities to our future generations. We strive to leave a lasting legacy to those who come behind us as we preserve access to good job opportunities, safe and educational work environments, and provide opportunity for those who choose a non-traditional career path.

SUPPLY CHAIN: We are tired of the excuses for the lack in product availability and the increase in costs of doing business. We support buying American. We support better foreign policy. We support American jobs. We support small business incentives and relief. All of which will improve our supply chain woes and reduce the cost of building a home.

BUILDING CODES: We work closely with the Department of Labor and Industry on building code regulation and reform. We bring common sense and real-world application to the table when we fight for changes to adopted codes. We push back when code changes are restrictive, unnecessary, and unrealistic.

review is taking too long. Duplicative and complicated governmental processes delay progress. Growth policies are not being followed. Rules are being violated and development is being unnecessarily delayed. All of this adds to the cost of building a home. We take on local and state agencies, holding them accountable and ensure housing attainability.