HELENA — The Montana Senate is having marathon floor sessions over the next few days as the transmittal deadline approaches.
Among the proposals that got initial approval Wednesday was Senate Bill 474 – on a 29-21 vote. The bill, from Republican Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, would make it easier for someone to claim a personal exemption to school vaccination requirements.
(Watch to hear from senators debating Wednesday's bills)
Emrich said his daughter had experienced a serious health issue after receiving a vaccination, but he couldn’t get approval for a medical exemption for her.
“People need the right to choose,” said Emrich on the floor of the Senate. “We can’t force everybody to get a vaccine. Most people want to get a vaccine; there's not that many people that don't. But we need to give them that option, that freedom to choose.”
Opponents said the current exemption process is working and warned, if more people opt out of vaccines, it will start to affect the state at large.
“The only reason that people in this country can decide not to get vaccines and that this feels like, you know, ‘This is a personal choice, I should be able to choose whether or not I do this,’ is because my kids are vaccinated,” said Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, who has worked in the public health field.
The Senate also endorsed SB 490 on a vote of 33-17. It would make significant changes to Montana’s late voter registration laws.
Currently, people can register and vote at county election offices until noon the Monday before an election and as long as polls are open on Election Day.
The bill — sponsored by Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka — would eliminate registration on Monday and close it at noon on Election Day, but allow people to register on the Saturday before the election.
Opponents said the change was going to make it harder to register, especially for young voters.
“One thing that I think is going to really suppress the vote is the stop-start — so you can register Saturday, Sunday, but you can't register Monday, you can register Tuesday only till noon,” said Senate Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade.
Supporters said it would relieve the burden that long same-day registration lines put on election workers, while working within a Montana Supreme Court ruling that blocked a bill to repeal same-day registration.
“We're trying to work around the court's decision, and make same-day registration available to people, to the very best of our ability, and still have an efficient, safe election,” said Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton.
In the end, the Montana Senate spent more than ten hours debating legislation on the floor Wednesday. They heard a total of 56 bills and gave initial approval to 47 of those.
One of the bills receiving an endorsement Wednesday afternoon was Senate Bill 385, from Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, which would create a new state “government claims court.” Senators advanced it on a 28-22 vote, with all but four Republicans in support and all Democrats in opposition.
(Watch the video to hear debate on the proposed new court.)
The new court would include three judges, each appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, and serving six-year terms. They would be tasked with hearing claims that state laws, rules or actions are unconstitutional, as well as future asbestos-related claims.
Earlier in the session, McGillvray had sponsored a bill to create a “court of chancery,” which was similar but would also have handled a variety of business cases. He told reporters this was an update of that proposal.
McGillvray said during Wednesday’s debate that district courts across the state are overloaded with cases, and that this court could relieve some of that pressure. He argued specialized judges could handle constitutional cases more efficiently.
“Many jurisdictions are simply overwhelmed, and civil claims, like these types of cases, sometimes can go on for weeks,” he said. “They take a tremendous amount of time, and they take a tremendous amount of expertise.”
Republican leaders have proposed a long list of bills to overhaul the judicial branch this session, and Democrats argued SB 385 was another attempt to undermine the judiciary’s independence.
“Our district courts need additional support and resources, as the sponsor appropriately notes,” said Sen. Chris Pope, D-Bozeman. “But with all due respect to the sponsor, this bill does not do that, nor does it solve problems. It does concentrate power to the executive branch.”
Supporters said the government claims court’s rulings could still be appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.
Also on Wednesday, senators voted down Senate Bill 476, from Republican Senator Daniel Emrich, 27-23. The bill sought to specifically define the separation of powers between each branch of government. It was a narrower version of Emrich’s Senate Bill 44, which failed on the floor in January.
Emrich said one of the main goals of SB 476 was to direct the Montana Board of Regents to follow the Legislature’s intentions – especially a bill that sought to expand students’ right to carry guns on campus.
The Senate did give initial approval to Senate Bill 457, sponsored by Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, which lays out procedures for the Legislature to find someone in contempt – and recommend criminal charges – if they don’t obey a legislative subpoena. Vinton said the Legislature clearly has the power to issue subpoenas under the state constitution, but they need more ability to enforce them to ensure people follow them. Opponents said the bill was too heavy-handed.
Thursday is expected to be the last day for debate on bills that need to pass either the House or Senate before Friday’s transmittal deadline to remain alive. The House will be back on the floor for debate at 8 a.m., and the Senate will reconvene at 8:30.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to include more bills debated Wednesday afternoon.
