Montana Legislative Leaders Set 2009 Session Calendar

The newly elected leaders of the Montana House and Senate agreed Friday on a calendar to guide events of the 2009 legislative session.

The calendar projects the days legislators will have off and the ending date of the session. It also includes deadlines for bill requests and transmission of bills from one chamber to the other. The calendar may be changed during the session if legislative leaders find it necessary.

"The Legislature should get up to operational speed fast enough that we’ll have meaningful work to do right away," said Sen. Robert Story, Jr. (R-Park City), who will serve as Senate president.

"We won’t be wasting a lot of time," added Rep. Bob Bergren (D-Havre), who will serve as speaker of the House. "Most of us have homes and jobs we want to return to, so we’d like to wrap up the people’s business as efficiently as possible."

The calendar is available on the legislative website at http://www.leg.mt.gov. To find it, click on "Sessions," "Current," and "Session Calendar."

The 2009 session will begin at noon Jan. 5. The Montana Constitution sets its length at no longer than 90 legislative work days.