Latest news with #HB311
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Renter's relief signed into Montana law
Photo illustration by Getty Images. A bill that saves Montana renters money in unused application fees was signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte. In a statement Monday, House Minority Leader Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, described it as 'one of the most significant policies enacted for renters in the last four years.' Sponsored by Rep. Kelly Kortum, D-Bozeman, House Bill 311 requires property managers to return rental application fees when they aren't used to run the application. Kortum brought the bill forward to address 'predatory business practices' he saw in Bozeman, according to a news release from House Democrats. Co-sponsors included Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. The news release said property managers can 'harvest' hundreds of dollars in application fees from prospective renters without intending to award a unit to any of them. 'Every day, Montanans pay rental application fees but don't get the apartment,' Kortum said at a hearing in support of the bill. 'Why are they paying for a service they never receive?' An estimated 31% of Montana households are renters, or 137,485, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Of those, it said 22% earn at or below the area median income. But renters can end up paying hundreds, 'if not thousands,' of dollars in application fees in a de facto 'housing lottery,' as they look for a place to live, the news release said. In a story last month, estimated the cost of application fees at $35 to $75 per person in the nation, although it said amounts range depending on location. House Democrats described HB 311 as a priority bill that will make 'finding a home much cheaper.' In a statement, Sullivan, a co-sponsor, said the bill shows Democrats are delivering to make housing more affordable in Montana. 'Getting a roof over your head should not be a raffle or a lottery,' Sullivan said. 'HB 311 would end the housing lottery and stop landlords from harvesting exploitative fees from hardworking Montanans.' The bill passed the legislature with bipartisan support, 68-29 in the House and 34-14 in the Senate.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill to return housing application fees clears Legislature
Photo illustration by Getty Images. Rep. Kelly Kortum, D-Bozeman, told his colleagues during a committee hearing last month that he wanted to solve a common problem for Montana renters. 'When folks apply to an apartment, a certain apartment might get 20 applications. The second person might get the apartment, (but) 18 application fees might go into the pocket of the property manager,' Kortum told the Senate Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee. His bill, House Bill 311, would require property managers to refund application fees to prospective renters who are not selected for an apartment or home. Kortum said his bill would fix bad business practices and protect consumers, especially workers and college students. HB 311 passed a final vote in the Legislature on Tuesday, and is on its way to Gov. Greg Gianforte's desk for a signature or veto. The bill drew bipartisan support in both chambers, but had a rough start in the House, where lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee tabled the legislation. Opposition to the bill, stemming mainly from the Montana Landlords Association and Montana Association of Realtors, had expressed concerns that the law would be put into the wrong section of code, and would target small property managers or individual landlords who would have to take extra steps to return fees. Proponents included the Associated Students of the University of Montana, the Montana Budget and Policy Center, and Joey Morrison, Deputy Mayor of Bozeman. They argued the bill was part of the affordable housing fix by helping to stabilize low-cost housing and keeping students and workers in the towns they live and work in. 'Every day, Montanans pay rental application fees but don't get the apartment,' Kortum said during the committee hearing. 'Why are they paying for a service they never receive?' A successful blast motion on the House floor — wherein the entire body votes to override a committee action — brought the debate to chamber. 'Last spring, I found myself in this position. I spent nearly $1,000 in six weeks applying for rentals here in Helena,' said Rep. Julie Darling, R-Helena. 'I don't have a thousand extra dollars — and I have a really good job — I don't know how somebody else making minimum wage does this.' The bill passed 63-31, with 26 Republicans joining all Democrats. In the Senate, Business and Labor committee amended the bill, following discussions with Kortum and some opponents, to change where the bill would be put into Montana Code Annotated, adding it to a section where property managers are regulated. The committee also amended the bill to target property managers who oversee four or more properties, exempting individual landlords and small management companies. The Senate approved the bill with bipartisan support 32-14. Kortum brought a similar bill during the 2023 session and in 2021 a Bozeman senator also proposed an application refund law, but neither garnered much support. Democrat leaders in the Legislature praised the bill's passage on Tuesday and urged the governor to sign it into law. 'Getting a roof over your head should not be a raffle or a lottery. HB 311 would end the housing lottery and stop landlords from harvesting exploitative fees from hardworking Montanans,' House Minority Leader Rep. Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, said in a press release. 'If signed, Democrats' HB 311 would be one of the most significant policies enacted for renters in the last four years.'
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utah could grab Colorado River water before it gets there, conservation group says
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A water grab is taking shape in Utah, where thirsty urban development north of Salt Lake City has created demand where supplies are limited. Enter the 'Utah state water agent,' a position created in 2024 with the mission of seeking water supplies beyond Utah's borders. It's a bold move by a state that once pushed a plan to pipe water from Lake Powell to St. George to secure water for that fast-growing community. Now conservation groups are among the voices speculating that Utah could divert water from the Green River — the largest tributary of the Colorado River, providing about 40% of all the water that flows into Lake Powell. 'This expensive fantasy that there's surplus water in the Colorado River Basin for Utah has real impacts on 30 million people downstream – yet Utah's water lobby loves the idea that we are just one diversion away from water nirvana,' Zach Frankel, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council, said in a news release on Wednesday. 'These costly dead-ends are a waste of precious time,' Frankel said. Utah straddles the upper and lower basins of the Colorado River. Glen Canyon Dam, which creates the second-largest reservoir in the U.S. at Lake Powell, is just south of the Utah-Arizona border, but the majority of Lake Powell is in Utah. That's hundreds of miles away from growing Utah cities. But the Green River is closer, and the distance is even shorter — less than 100 miles — if water was piped to the Bear River, which winds its way through Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and back to Utah, emptying into the Great Salt Lake. The Bear River is one of three rivers from the Uintah mountain range flowing into the lake, but less water makes it that far each year as development continues. Residents have seen the lake drop to record low levels in recent years. Utah's share of the Colorado River from the Upper Basin amounts to 1.4 million acre-feet, more than four times Nevada's share from the Lower Basin. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons of water, or enough to cover one acre in water a foot deep. The Colorado River provides more than a quarter (27%) of the water used in Utah, and about 68% of that water is used to grow alfalfa and other types of hay, according to a 2022 report from The Salt Lake Tribune. The Utah Rivers Council has previously spotlighted the increased suburban use of the Bear River and how it's contributing to the demise of the Great Salt Lake. But now, Frankel is sounding an alarm about actions in the state legislature that set up a conflict with other states that rely on the Colorado River. Frankel said Utah's current water agent, Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Joel Ferry, supported a previous effort to advance the 'Green River Pipeline' in 2020 when he was a legislator. Ferry sponsored legislation to study the project and testified on its behalf. Now, HB311 in the Utah State Legislature could give Ferry the authority to clear the way for projects that would remove water from the Colorado River system. The Utah legislation doesn't say how much water, or where the water would go. Frankel said the initial verson of HB311 was gutted and replace with the current version with no public notice. He notes that the water agent doesn't have to disclose everything he does. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox appointed Ferry to his current position, and Utah leaders have been vocal critics of federal decisions about Utah lands, including Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, in recent years. 'Utah is taking its anti-federal-oversight mindset on public lands to the Colorado River,' according to Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network. 'This could pose major questions for the 25 million people who depend on water in the Lower Basin. HJR9 and HB311 open the door to more shenanigans in the Colorado River system. These policies don't necessarily authorize a given project, but they send a strong signal to the Colorado River Basin that Utah wants to play by a very limited set of rules that don't account for climate change or senior water rights holders in other states,' Roerink said. Overall, the entire Colorado River Basin supplies water to 40 million people across parts of seven states. Southern Nevada gets 90% of its water from the river, pumped from the bottom of Lake Mead to homes and businesses across the valley. The other 10% comes from groundwater. Any attempt to pump water from the Green River would likely get attention from federal officials and other states involved in crafting agreements on how the Colorado River is managed. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has been working with representatives from Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, as well as tribal representatives. They all have a stake in the future of the river. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
