HELENA — Things could have turned out better on Capitol Hill for Montana's Capital City, lawmakers said as the 2003 legislative session wrapped up Saturday.

‘‘We got screwed,'' said freshman Rep. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena.

The minimal pay raise that 16,000 state employees will get in 2005 and the overturn of the city's voter-approved indoor smoking ban were two issues that Helena's representatives dub unfortunate.

However, the Legislature's approval of $175,000 to help the Helena College of Technology plan for a new campus near the airport was good news, lawmakers said.

‘‘It could have been worse,'' said Rep. Dave Lewis, R-Helena. ‘‘We worked hard to maintain what we have.''

Pay raise

The state's thousands of employees, many of whom live in Helena, are facing a pay freeze until January 2005, when they will get an additional 25 cents an hour for the last six months of the biennium.

They will also see the state pick up the increased cost of health insurance, although employees who insure their families on their plans will have to pay more for dependent coverage.

Democrats said the $260 raise is not enough.

‘‘It's an insult,'' said Sen. Ken Toole, D-Helena, who was a state worker for 12 years.

‘‘Morale is probably going to reach an all-time low,'' said Rep. Hal Jacobson, D-Helena. ‘‘The city of Helena and the surrounding areas are going to feel the negative ripple effects of this.''

Inflationary increases in everyday living expenses will give state workers less buying power in the future, legislators said.

‘‘You're going to see people leaving state government,'' said Cohenour, who is a chemist in the state Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Lewis, who worked in state government for almost 30 years before he became a lawmaker, said the 25-cent raise is a ‘‘reasonable compromise'' since the governor's office proposed freezing state wages for the next two years.

‘‘It's really the best we can do at this time,'' Lewis said.

Smoking ban lifted

Helena had one of the strictest indoor smoking bans in Montana and the country until the Legislature overturned the voter-approved measure that prohibited smoking inside public places, including bars and casinos.

The House Taxation Committee approved lifting the ban after it voted down the proposal earlier in the session. The measure then passed both the House and the Senate, and the governor signed the bill.

‘‘It's just so typical of this House to think they're smarter than the voters,'' said Rep. Dave Gallik, D-Helena.

Toole said the overturn of the smoking ban reveals the power certain special interest groups have over the state.

‘‘It's usurping local control at the behest of the gaming industry,'' Toole said. ‘‘It demonstrates the power of the gaming industry.''

HCT

As for the local branch of the University of Montana, the Helena College of Technology didn't get all the development money some lawmakers wanted to give it, but it did get some.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, reached for new building funds and a new, unified campus to be built near the airport. The Legislature conceded $175,000 to fund project planning.

Kaufmann said the Legislature just reinstated this money, which it had removed in the last special session.

‘‘It's a good move,'' Jacobson said.

Campaign mode

The Democrats' failure this session to convince their Republican colleagues to fund all the human service and education programs they deem necessary has put Helena's Democratic lawmakers in campaign mode, hoping to help take over the Legislature in 2005.