Legislative Update: Progress on red-tape reduction efforts

We are midway through this legislative session, and I am proud to report some key accomplishments we have achieved thus far.

I have already written about this but a lot of what I have been focused on in my own bills and committees is protecting the Montana way of life — including protecting our water and irrigation rights, elevating the attention to and importance of having healthy soil, revising livestock reimbursement costs and delisting the grizzly bear so we can manage the population at the state level.

In addition to legislation I have personally introduced, I have been working with the governor and my colleagues in the Senate to provide financial relief to Montanans. We have a surplus in the budget for the first time ever. I’d like to see that surplus be returned to our hard-working taxpayers.

In collaboration with the governor, we have made a lot of headway in our red tape relief efforts. It is important these unnecessary laws and regulations are eliminated so businesses and individuals don’t continue to be held back. Without these brick walls we can reach potential faster — helping Montanans get high-paying jobs.

I’ll be looking forward to the second half of this legislative session, and in the meantime I will continue to work hard for you in Helena.

State Sen. Bruce “Butch” Gillespie, a Republican, serves the Ninth District of the Montana Senate.