Waves of showers fell gently over the layers of ranch country that stretch across the mountainsides. Most weekends are a scramble as I catch up on ranch chores after a busy week at the Legislature. However, the flurry of activity at the Legislature, though fresh in mind, somehow didn't capture all my attention. I drifted through the ranch often thinking of my brother, whose ranch adjoins our land.
We in the House gave final approval to House Bill 2 which is the big spending bill. The total amount for the biennium will come in around $10.3 billion, up slightly over the last biennium in total funds. The Senate added about $19 million more in general fund spending, so the increase in general funds should finish somewhere around a 3 percent increase in spending. House Bill 5, a capital projects bill, passed, as well as numerous companion bills.
The gas tax bill, House Bill 473, also passed in the House. The Appropriations committee negotiated some decreases in the size of the increase, with the change in diesel prices lowered to a 1 cent increase which will eventually rise to 2 cents. The committee reduced the unleaded price increase to 4.5 cents with an increase to 6 cents over time. However, House Bill 650 added more dollars to highway patrol funding by increasing a number of license fees. In the end, the tradeoff of lower gas prices with increased vehicle registration costs brought in a similar amount of money to the original proposal of an 8 cent increase in the gas tax.
By the time readers scan this article, the session will be finished. There will be some last minute deals and the final story of bonding for more infrastructure projects will be known. Dozens of bills will move to the governor's desk. Some will be signed. Some will be vetoed. Some will become law without a signature.
Many readers may not be aware that all men are required to wear a suit and tie every day of the session - and on April 22, I wore a purple tie. It was the favorite color of my brother Joel. After the session ended, I attended his funeral in Townsend. Joel, a longtime farmer and community leader, passed away April 17 at age 68.
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Just the previous Monday, Joel crawled up into the tractor to ready the land for spring planting. However, a 19-year bout of cancer caught up with him over the next few days. He and I shared a great conversation a few days before he died. We talked about stewardship of the land. We talked about how our roots to the land had grown as we aged. We discussed how we strove to leave the land in a better condition than when we became temporary stewards of this land. We reminisced on how short life really was and how we still looked forward to reaching for dreams.
We shared how both of us hoped our children would continue to develop those same "roots" to the land. We realized that our children would develop different talents, but we hoped that they, too, would continue a strong bond to stewardship of the land. He emphasized how immensely proud he was of his children, grandchildren and wife and how fortunate he was to be granted 19 years more of life. In the end, we told each other that we loved one another. He and I grasped each other's hands and said "goodbye and see you later."
Our community shared a celebration of his life and the Legislature took a back seat - and the next day I toured quietly through the ranch. My footsteps retraced the steps where we had hunted as young men, where all of us siblings and our parents had stewarded the land, where our mother had walked to school, where Joel and his family had shared campfires, laughter and dreams.
The sun shone through the clouds, and there in the mountain meadow, I caught the shimmer of hundreds of purple flowers. In that magical glint of sunshine, the spotlight shone clearly on the purple of hundreds of blooming crocuses and shooting stars. Yes, Joel's favorite color.
