“We are very interested in a dialogue, a dialogue having the serious meaning of a two-way conversation,” House Republican Floor Leader Scott Mendenhall, R-Clancy, said last week. “Clearly I think Montana voters expect us to do that. They elected him and they elected us.”
Republican leaders in both chambers also released a plan for the legislative session that would seem to mirror some ideas already endorsed by Democrats - very different from the contentious budget battles of 2007.
“What is my role?” Schweitzer said. “I have prepared a budget, then they have 90 days to make some suggestions and give it back to me.”
Schweitzer's relationship with Republican legislative leaders was testy during his first term.
Two years ago, the former House majority leader publicly cussed out Schweitzer before the legislative budget process collapsed in historic fashion. In 2005, a rocky initial meeting between Republican leaders and Schweitzer, along with a carryover of campaign rhetoric into the session, chilled a relationship that never really was repaired.
Schweitzer said that he has had cordial conversations with Senate President Bob Story, running the Republican majority in the Senate, and called him a “quiet consensus builder.”
Story said he hopes to build on it.
“I'm looking forward to sitting down with the governor and having a dialogue on how we all get things done,” Story said. “My goal is not to get into a head-butting contest with the governor.
“Hopefully we can have constructive dialogue that develops into mutual respect.”
But Schweitzer said he is less certain about his standing with the top Republican in the House, Minority Leader Scott Sales. That chamber is split 50-50 between the parties, although Democrats have organizational control.
Sales ruffled the feathers of Democrats when he used his speech on the opening day of the legislative session to call Schweitzer “the biggest spender in the history of the state of Montana” and offered other criticisms.
Republicans, unveiling a seven-point legislative plan last week, acknowledged it is much closer to Democratic plans than in years past.
It endorses the large
$250 million-plus reserves proposed by Schweitzer and offers no sharp disagreement on proposed spending levels - and even uses the same “live within our means” promise made by Democrats.
“It is refreshing, from a Republican standpoint, to hear some conservative-sounding tones coming out of Democrats,” Mendenhall said. “Perhaps we will find common ground with them, and that is refreshing.”
Schweitzer had a different take, saying the Republicans have come around and appear to be accepting his proposals.
Clearly, there are some items further down the GOP agenda that have historically been partisan battlegrounds.
GOP leaders in both the House and Senate are seeking “responsible natural resource development” - a phrase also used by Schweitzer - but seek to do so through changes in the permitting process. Such proposals in the past have resulted in epic battles between industry and environmental lobbyists and their respective legislative allies.
The Republican priority list includes energy tax credits, a searchable state budget database for taxpayers, changes to the ongoing property tax mitigation process and accountability measures for schools.
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