A Helena judge has thrown out a Republican state senator's lawsuit challenging a $140-per-Montana-homeowner tax credit authorized this summer by the Schweitzer administration.

District Court Judge Thomas Honzel dismissed the suit on procedural grounds, ruling that Sen. John Cobb, R-Augusta, could not legally bring the case because he cannot show that he has been personally harmed by the Schweitzer administration's actions.

Honzel did not rule on the merits of the case.

Cobb, a rancher and lawyer, had argued that the administration wrongly granted the credits when it incorrectly calculated the level of state tax revenue that triggered the credits.

Reached at his home Thursday, Cobb said he was satisfied with the judge's decision, although he did not agree with it, and was "99 percent sure" he would not appeal the ruling.

"I did what I thought was right," he said. "We never got to the merits of the case, but that's the way it goes. That's why we have a court system."

The decision was quick, coming just over a week after a hearing in the case.

Both Cobb and Attorney General Mike McGrath praised Honzel for his speed as state tax booklets will begin landing in Montanans' mailboxes soon and the matter required a quick resolution.

"Thanks to the timeliness of the court, the state can go ahead and process the tax credits previously authorized by the Schweitzer administration," McGrath said in a statement.

Honzel's decision also seemed to bring some clarity to the lingering question of whether individual lawmakers have the right to bring lawsuits against the governor solely because they are lawmakers.

Cobb had argued that because he voted on the bill that created the tax credits and he knew what the bill entailed, his vote was rendered meaningless when Schweitzer did not follow the law.

At issue is $36 million in tax credits, averaging $140 for each of Montana's 259,000 eligible taxpayers.

A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax liability.

Lawmakers in the May 2007 Special Session passed a law stating that if state tax revenues for the year ending June 30 topped $1.082 billion, any excess would be returned to taxpayers.

The Department of Administration, which acts as the state treasurer, certified in August that dollars flowing into state coffers had reached $1.082 billion, thus triggering the tax credits.

But Cobb argued that the administration didn't follow standard accounting practices when it counted the money.

In fact, he said, state revenues never reached the threshold and no tax credits should have been authorized under the law.

Assistant Attorney General Anthony Johnstone, who argued for the state in the case, said in a recent hearing on the matter said that the state used figures from the Statewide Accounting Budgeting and Human Resources System, which showed the trigger had been met.

Cobb is known as a principled, well-mannered lawmaker who has broken with his party leadership to support measures he believes in.

He has served in the Legislature since 1985 and in the state Senate since 2001, however, term limits prevent him from seeking another term.