HELENA — The Montana Legislature is now three-quarters of the way through its 69th session. With just 21 days left in the session, they’ve reached the point where the policy in a bill isn’t the only thing that matters – the price tag is also a big factor.
The House had another lengthy agenda Monday, going through bills that appropriate state money. Several of them already passed initial votes on the House floor, but came back after they went through what lawmakers call a “haircut” – when the House Appropriations Committee makes tweaks to a bill to reduce its impact on the budget.
(Watch the video for a look at some of the big debates on bills Monday.)
The House endorsed House Bill 185, sponsored by Rep. Ed Stafman, D-Bozeman, on a 57-43 vote. The bill previously would have allowed children under six to stay on the Healthy Montana Kids insurance program for three years after enrolling – regardless of changes in their families’ eligibility.
“Approps cut that back to two years in an amendment – which means there’ll be more frequent eligibility determinations for these kids, but it's still better than the annual review that these kids go through now,” Stafman said during the floor debate Monday.
The House also gave initial approval to House Bill 456, sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, 60-40. It expands the Best Beginnings program that helps qualified low-income families pay child care expenses – providing that assistance to workers at child care facilities as well. It originally would have included workers regardless of their income, but it was amended in committee to only cover those making less than twice the state median income.
“I'm confident that this bill, as amended, will reduce turnover for workers,” said Karlen.
Representatives considered two bills from Rep. Scott Rosenzweig, D-Bozeman. They voted down House Bill 783, which would have required state group health insurance to cover GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic for severe obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome, but they endorsed House Bill 836, which would create property tax deferral loans for people over 62.
“Since we approved it here last time, down in the Appropriations Committee, we made two changes,” Rosenzweig said. “First, we removed active-duty military because it created more of a complication than a benefit, and second, we lowered the initial funding to a more adequate amount of $6 million from the humorous $50 million that I thought would be necessary.”
Also on Monday, the House also gave initial approval to a bill that would split up Montana’s largest state agency: the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. House Bill 851 passed a preliminary vote 86-14.
HB 851, sponsored by Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, would create a new Department of Health Services, which would be responsible for a variety of mental health services, developmental disabilities services, chemical dependency treatment and veterans’ long-term care. That would include supervising a number of state facilities – most notably the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.
Fitzpatrick said he sees DPHHS as inefficient and providing poor service, and that he doesn’t believe they’ve made enough progress toward resolving hiring challenges at MSH. He said splitting the department could bring more attention to the state facilities.
“The institutions, in particular, have suffered from neglect for 30 years, and now we have a crisis,” he said.
Rep. Jane Gillette, R-Three Forks, said DPHHS has made strides in addressing issues at MSH, and that the Legislature should give them more time before making such a big change.
“I’d ask that you give the system a little bit of patience, a little bit of grace,” she said.
Also on Monday, the House passed HB 2, the $16 billion main state budget bill, on a final vote – officially sending it over to the Senate, where hearings are expected this week.
Any appropriations bill – including HB 2 and those that passed preliminary votes on Monday – needs to clear the House by the end of the day Tuesday in order to stay alive.
