XII.1 Agriculture
(1) The legislature shall provide for a Department of Agriculture and enact laws and provide appropriations to protect, enhance, and develop all agriculture.
(2) Special levies may be made on livestock and on agricultural commodities for disease control and indemnification, predator control, and livestock and commodity inspection, protection, research, and promotion. Revenue derived shall be used solely for the purposes of the levies.
History
Sources
1889 Montana Constitution
Article XVIII – Labor.
Section 1. The Legislative Assembly may provide for a bureau of agriculture, labor and industry, to be located at the capital and be under the control of a commissioner appointed by the Governor subject to the confirmation of the senate. The commissioner shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor is appointed and qualified, his compensation shall be as provided by law.
Article XII – Revenue and Taxation.
Section 9. The rate of taxation of real and personal property for State purposes in any one year shall never exceed three (3) mills on each dollar of valuation; and whenever the taxable property in the State shall amount to one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), the rate shall not exceed two and one-half (2 ½) mills on each dollar of valuation; and whenever the taxable property in the state shall amount to three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000) the rate shall never exceed one and one-half (1 ½) mills on each dollar of valuation; unless a proposition to increase such rate specifying the rate proposed and the time during which the same shall be levied, shall have been submitted to the people at a general election, and shall have received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at such election.
Drafting
Delegate Proposal No. 117. (Bates, Skari, Leuthold, Barnard, Davis, Anderson, Eskildsen, Buskirk, Cate, Delaney, Blaylock, Cross, Belcher, Nutting, Mahoney, Foster, Etchart, Harlow): That there shall be a new Constitutional Section to provide as follows: There shall be a Department of Agriculture.Montana Constitutional Convention Proceedings, 1971-1972 Vol. I, 244.
Delegate Proposal No. 119. (Aasheim, Conover, Anderson, Barnard): Section 1. There shall be a new Constitutional Section to provide as follows: (1) All moneys paid into the state treasury which are derived from acreage taxes to support the hail insurance program shall be expended only for hail insurance losses, refunds, interest on warrants and cost of administering the hail insurance program. (2) All moneys paid into the state treasury which are derived from grazing district permit fees or assessments shall be expended only for administering the state grazing district program. (3) All moneys paid into the state treasury which are derived from assessments on marketed wheat shall be expended only for costs of administering the wheat research and marketing program. None of the above mentioned moneys may be deposited in the state's general fund to support state government."Montana Constitutional Convention Proceedings, 1971-1972 Vol. I, 246.
Majority Proposal (Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee). That there be a new Article on Agriculture to read as follows:
Section 1. Department of Agriculture. The legislative assembly must provide for a Department of Agriculture and provide appropriations to protect, enhance and develop all agriculture of the state.
Section 2. Right to Special Levies. A special levy may be made on livestock and on agricultural commodities for the purpose of disease control and indemnification, predator control, livestock inspection and protection, livestock and agricultural commodity research and promotion.Montana Constitutional Convention Proceedings, 1971-1972 Vol. II, 559.
Comments on Majority Proposal.
Section 1. Your committee believes that it is necessary to recognize the largest and most important industry in the state by retaining the Constitutional provision for a Department of Agriculture and to require that the legislature provide appropriations and authorities to adequately protect, enhance and develop the agricultural industry of the state. This new section is intended to remove any reference to agriculture from Article XVIII, Section 1 of our Constitution and to be the first section of a new article on agriculture.
Section 2. This section is a revision of Article XII, Section 9. Because of the excellent results of the livestock mill levy, your committee believes all of agriculture should benefit from this method of self-help taxation. However, your committee feels that setting the rate, as was previously done, is a legislative function to be exercised in response to industry needs.Montana Constitutional Convention Proceedings, 1971-1972 Vol. II, 560.
Other Comments. The Revenue and Finance Committee proposed an Article on Revenue and Finance (which became Article VIII). Proposed Section 14, Agricultural Levies, was similar to Article XII, Section 1(2). The Committee Majority Report stated: ". . . the importance of agriculture to the Montana economy should not be underestimated--in fact, it should be emphasized. The committee also thought it should encourage taxpayers who are willing to bear the burden of a tax to improve the economic future of their industry."Montana Constitutional Convention Proceedings, 1971-1972 Vol. II, 597-598.
Editing. The Committee on Style and Drafting made minor edits to the Majority Proposal.Montana Constitutional Convention Proceedings, 1971-1972 Vol. II, 1076.
Adoption. This article was first presented to the Committee of the Whole on March 1, 1972 as part of Natural Resources and Agricultural Committee Proposal Number 2, date reported, February 18, 1972, which proposed that there be a new article on environment (Environment and Natural Resources, which became Article IX) and agriculture (Agriculture, which became Article XII, Section 1). Delegate Louise Cross, Chairman of the Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee, explained the proposed articles: "The first is divided into four sections: protection and enhancement, reclamation, water rights and cultural resources. The second is divided into two parts: the Department of Agriculture and the right to special levies." She explained further ". . . the committee was able to agree on all but one section of the articles. That one was the one on the environment, itself." . . . "When the committee dealt with the section on water and water rights and the Department of Agriculture, they needed no convincing of their importance. Water is at a crucial point in Montana history. Use it or lose it. Agriculture is in a tenuous position because it is rapidly losing its voice and its representation in legislative halls. On these two points, the common danger was recognized. But the issue of the environment is an issue of recent vintage. Constitutionally speaking, it is a new concept, and we must begin at point zero. After a month of trying to come to grips with the issue, I began to feel that environment must be like the proverbial weather: we all talk about it, but doing something about it is a horse of a different color. It is the important issue of our time."4 Verbatim Transcript 1198-1199 (Mar. 1, 1972).
On March 2, 1972, the Delegates adopted Section 1 and 2 of the proposed agriculture article. The roll call vote for Section 1 was 77 delegates voting aye, 4 voting no.5 Verbatim Transcript 1366 (Mar. 2, 1972). During the debate on Section 1, questions were raised about how the Department of Agriculture fit into the executive reorganization and how the article would impact the existing Department of Livestock.5 Verbatim Transcript 1363-1365 (Mar. 2, 1972). The roll call vote for Section 2, which was amended, was 79 delegates voting aye, 2 voting no.5 Verbatim Transcript 1370 (Mar. 2, 1972). The amendment added the last sentence: "Revenue derived shall be used solely for the purposes of the levies."5 Verbatim Transcript 1366 (Mar. 2, 1972). Delegate ES Gysler stated: "I would like to call to the attention of the delegation that this section in its exact wording is also found in the Revenue and Finance report, as their Section 14. I spoke to Mr. Rygg, the Chairman of that committee, and he said he thought that it properly belonged in our committee and for us to handle it here and if it passed they wouldn’t take it up there."5 Verbatim Transcript 1366 (Mar. 2, 1972). Delegate Gysler read from Report Number 15 on Taxation and Finance to explain the need for the section: "The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that the special livestock mill levy allowed in Article XII, Section 9, could not be levied if it were not specifically authorized in the Constitution. The court said: ‘Section 9, Article XII, of the Constitution was expressly amended in 1910 whereby a special levy could be made upon livestock exclusively for certain purposes, and without the amendments, such levy could not be made.'"5 Verbatim Transcript 1367 (Mar. 2, 1972). Delegate Daphne Bugbee stated "If I and my children and my family wanted to put money in a bank, it would be our business, just the way this is the business of the livestock people. Therefore, my only question, really, is, why should this be constitutionalized? I’m afraid it was a mistake before; it may be a mistake again. Let the livestock people do what they want to do, but it seems to me this is the worst kind of constitutional writing and that we’re really not sticking to what we’re here for."5 Verbatim Transcript 1368 (Mar. 2, 1972).
The delegates adopted the final draft of Article XII on March 22, 1972 on a roll call vote with 90 delegates voting aye, 5 voting no.7 Verbatim Transcript 2942-2943 (Mar. 22, 1972).
Ratification
1972 Voter Pamphlet ExplanationAvailable at http://www.umt.edu/law/library/files/1972voterspamphlet
(1) Revises 1889 constitution. Provides that a department of agriculture will be one of the 20 departments in the executive branch. Deletes reference to a commissioner of agriculture. Directs legislature to provide money for agriculture. (2) Revises 1889 constitution by extending the special mill levy on livestock to agriculture to be used for the benefit of both. Deletes reference to maximum levy allowed.