Montana Code 5-11-1101. Legislative findings and purpose
5-11-1101. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds and declares that:
Terms Used In Montana Code 5-11-1101
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Broadcasting: means any application of communication technologies to deliver live or delayed programming to a viewing audience, including but not limited to over-the-air television broadcasts, cable television, and the streaming of audio or video signals over the internet. See Montana Code 5-11-1102
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Division: means the legislative services division provided for in 5-11-111. See Montana Code 5-11-1102
- Majority party: means the party with the most members in a house of the legislature, subject to subsection (2). See Montana Code 1-1-208
- Minority party: means the party with the second most members in a house of the legislature, subject to subsection (2). See Montana Code 1-1-208
- Operator: means :
(a)a private, nonprofit organization exempt from taxation under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code; or
(b)a public or private Montana institution of higher education that has a program related to video production or broadcast or a related field. See Montana Code 5-11-1102
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(1)the purpose of a state-funded public affairs broadcasting program is to provide Montana citizens with increased access to unbiased information about state government deliberations and public policy events through unedited television coverage and other communications technologies; and
(2)the preferred means of establishing and maintaining a state-funded public affairs broadcasting program is to assign the enabling responsibilities to the legislative council and the division to contract with a qualified operator through a competitive bidding process. If a qualified operator is not found, the division may become the operator and operate within the existing appropriation until a qualified operator is hired under a subsequent request for proposals. The division may not be the sole operator on a permanent basis but shall seek to maintain a partnership with an outside operator. The division shall issue a request for proposals before the end of any biennium during which the division serves as a temporary operator. Any scoring and review team for the requested proposals must include a member of the majority party and a member of the minority party who are members of the legislative council.