Senate Bill No. 220

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act providing for the Montana consensus council; providing for a board of directors of the montana consensus council; providing legislative findings and purpose; providing the powers and duties of the Montana consensus council; providing an exception from the state pay plan; and amending section 2-18-103, MCA."



STATEMENT OF INTENT

A statement of intent is required for this bill because [section 3] allows the board of directors of the Montana consensus council to adopt rules.

The legislature intends that the rules adopted by the board of directors include rules governing the organization and procedures of the council, as required by 2-4-201, and other rules as determined necessary by the board of directors of the council.



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



NEW SECTION. Section 1.  Montana consensus council -- board of directors. (1) There is a Montana consensus council.

(2) The Montana consensus council consists of the board of directors of the council, the executive director appointed pursuant to [section 3(1)], and other staff hired by the executive director.

(3) The board of directors of the Montana consensus council consists of seven members appointed as follows:

(a) Five members of the board must be appointed by the governor.

(b) One member of the board must be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.

(c) One member of the board must be appointed by the president of the senate.

(4) Members of the board of directors must be appointed to reflect gender and racial balance as provided in 2-15-108. Members must be appointed by the governor to reflect political and geographic balance. Members appointed by the speaker and the president may not be from the same political party.

(5) The governor shall appoint three members of the initial board of directors for terms of 4 years and two members for terms of 2 years. The governor shall appoint subsequent members of the board of directors to terms of 4 years. The members appointed by the speaker and the president serve 2-year terms. A member may not serve more than three consecutive terms. A vacancy on the board is filled in the manner of the original appointment for the unexpired term.

(6) The provisions of 2-15-122(5) through (8) apply to the board of directors, except that the members of the board of directors serve without pay.

(7) The Montana consensus council is attached to the governor's office for administrative purposes only as provided in 2-15-121.



NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Findings and purpose. (1) The legislature finds that since the Montana consensus council was originally created by an executive order in 1994, it has assisted Montanans with diverse viewpoints to build understanding and to reach agreement on natural resource and other public policy issues. The council has also enhanced the ability of Montanans to work together on public issues of common concern.

(2) The purpose of [sections 1 through 4] is to:

(a) ensure that Montanans have a fair, efficient, and effective forum to seek agreement on natural resource and other public policy issues in a manner that supplements existing institutions for public decisionmaking; and

(b) foster state government's role in encouraging the use of consensus processes for public decisionmaking in appropriate situations.

(3) To achieve the goals provided in subsection (2), [section 1] provides for the appointment of members to the board of directors of the Montana consensus council who represent diverse groups. The board will also achieve the goals of subsection (2) through the powers and duties provided in [sections 3 and 4].

(4) It is further the intention of the legislature that the Montana consensus council be nonpartisan in the execution of its powers and duties and that the council not serve as an advocate for a particular interest or outcome.



NEW SECTION. Section 3.  Montana consensus council board of directors -- powers. The Montana consensus council board of directors provided for in [section 1] may:

(1) appoint an executive director to serve at the pleasure of the board of directors. The executive director must be compensated as provided by the board of directors.

(2) adopt rules in accordance with the Montana Administrative Procedure Act to implement [sections 1 through 4]; and

(3) undertake other activities necessary to carry out [sections 1 through 4].



NEW SECTION. Section 4.  Duties of Montana consensus council. The Montana consensus council provided for in [section 1] shall:

(1) design and manage forums to foster civil dialogue and build agreement on community and public policy issues;

(2) provide education, training, and consultation to improve the ability of Montanans to solve community and public policy issues through consensus processes;

(3) conduct research and produce publications to increase people's awareness and understanding of consensus processes;

(4) respond to requests for assistance from the governor, the legislature, and other citizens and leaders in Montana;

(5) prepare a biennial report to the governor, the legislature, persons providing funding for the Montana consensus council, and Montana citizens; and

(6) take other acts necessary to implement [sections 1 through 4].



Section 5.  Section 2-18-103, MCA, is amended to read:

"2-18-103.   Officers and employees excepted. (1) Parts 1 and 2 do not apply to the following positions in state government:

(a)  elected officials;

(b)  county assessors and their chief deputy;

(c)  employees of the office of consumer counsel;

(d)  judges and employees of the judicial branch;

(e)  members of boards and commissions appointed by the governor, the legislature, or other elected state officials;

(f)  officers or members of the militia;

(g)  agency heads appointed by the governor;

(h)  academic and professional administrative personnel with individual contracts under the authority of the board of regents of higher education;

(i)  academic and professional administrative personnel and live-in houseparents who have entered into individual contracts with the state school for the deaf and blind under the authority of the state board of public education;

(j)  teachers under the authority of the department of corrections or the department of public health and human services;

(k)  investment officer, assistant investment officer, executive director, and three professional staff positions of the board of investments;

(l)  four professional staff positions under the board of oil and gas conservation;

(m)  assistant director for security of the Montana state lottery;

(n)  executive director and senior investment officer of the Montana board of science and technology development;

(o)  executive director and employees of the state compensation insurance fund;

(p)  state racing stewards employed by the executive secretary of the Montana board of horseracing;

(q)  executive director of the Montana wheat and barley committee;

(r)  commissioner of banking and financial institutions; and

(s)  training coordinator for county attorneys; and

(t) executive director of the Montana consensus council.

(2)  Employees of an entity of the legislative branch, other than the office of consumer counsel, are exempt from the application of 2-18-1011 through 2-18-1013. With respect to entities of the legislative branch, other than the office of consumer counsel:

(a)  as used in parts 1 through 3 of this chapter, references to the "department of administration" or "department" apply to the legislative council established by 5-11-101, which may delegate administrative duties to the legislative services division established by 5-11-111;

(b)  as used in 2-18-102, the term "governor" applies to the legislature; and

(c)  as used in 2-18-204, the term "budget director" applies to the "approving authority" as defined in 17-7-102."



NEW SECTION. Section 6.  Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 2, chapter 15, and the provisions of Title 2, chapter 15, apply to [section 1].

-END-