so that this referendum would ….

so that this referendum would not tie the hands of future Legislatures when they seek to adapt and improve our tax system by broadening the tax base to reduce property tax.

Senate Bill 136: Clarify criteria for permits and water right changes, sponsored by Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick (R), SD 10. Montana Farm Bureau member policy supports. This is a straightforward bill to clear up language around water right permitting. Today, statute notes identification of “existing legal demands,” which opens various interpretations of how that demand may be quantified. SB 136 clarifies that the legal availability analysis for a permit and/or a change in water right is determined only by the water right, which is defined as the quantity of water available. The legislative intent behind this existing statue was to have the Department of Natural Resources permit water based solely on existing water quantity, and this bill rightly clarifies that intent.