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Thus far over 4,440 bill titles have been submitted to the Legislature Services Division, as of Jan. 23. More than half of those titles will never result in a bill being introduced. They are referred to as “placeholders,” a title available to be turned into a bill to address some issue, if necessary. During the past five legislative sessions, an average of 1,339 bills have been introduced. Notwithstanding the large number of bill titles and bills likely to be introduced, there is only one bill that really needs to pass, House Bill 2, the sta...
The 69th Legislative Session is now in its second week of deliberations. The House got off to a quick start with Committees commencing business on the second day of the assembly and has held hearings on over 100 bills. The hot issue on the House floor this week was House Bill 121, a bill drafted to keep biological males from entering women’s restrooms, changing rooms and sleeping areas, in public facilities. To the vast majority of Montanans, that’s just common sense. The Democratic Party has a contrary view and sought to defeat the legislation...
The 69th session of the Montana Legislature began its work on Jan. 6. It was a day given over to ceremony. Governor Greg Gianforte took his oath of office at 10:30 in the morning followed by the other statewide elected officials. The 150 members of the Legislature were sworn in at noon followed by the formal election of the Speaker of the House, Mr. Brandon Ler, of Savage, Montana and President of the Senate, Mr. Matt Regier from Kalispell. The Republican Party holds a majority in both chambers with the Senate standing at 32 Republicans and 18...
The 69th Legislative Assembly began its work on Jan. 6. There are a number of major, controversial measures which will be discussed, argued and voted on including: THE CONTINUATION OF MEDICAID EXPANSION The Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, contained a provision which allowed states to expand Medicaid coverage to people who had limited or lacked health insurance coverage. Passage of the state law necessary to implement “expanded Medicaid coverage” contained a sunset clause which causes the program to expire in 2025. The 202...
On Sept. 17, the House Bill 5 Select Committee on Correctional System Capacity held its final meeting where it adopted its final report and recommendations. The report now goes to the Law and Justice Interim Committee and to the Governor for their consideration. The Select Committee was created by the 2023 Legislature and directed to study capacity issues in the state’s Correctional System and provide recommendations to address problems. Montana’s Correctional System is completely full with both state owned and contracted facilities ope...
