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Alert Network Members:
Legislative week eight is about over. We are in the 41st legislative day of the scheduled 90-day session and are nearing the half waypoint. Next Wednesday is the final day to transmit bills from one House to the other. The legislators then go home for a 4-day weekend. Monday started the last minute rush to get all the bills out of draft that had been languishing for the past several weeks, get them introduced, into committee, and passed. Today is the last day general bills can be heard in committee. Next weeks’ committee hearings are all appropriations bills. So if it has not been heard by the end of the day Friday, the bill is probably dead.
This week has been a rush with over 1,200 bills still in draft at the start of the week. One hundred thirty two were brought out of draft, introduced and went through some action this week. The days were long and the tempers short. Committee hearings were limiting testimony just to get through all the bills set before them.
The big news this week is the Death Penalty Abolition Bill, SB 306, passed second reading in the Senate 27 votes for passage and 21 against. Two Senators were excused. The vote sets up a third reading and final vote in the Senate on Saturday. They have 33 second reading bills to deal with first, so we expect this to make the floor Saturday afternoon. This is a historic event and the first time an abolition bill has passed the Senate. If third reading holds, it will go to the House. I talked to several Senators this morning (Saturday) before they went into session and a couple remarked about the number of emails they received from those who support the death penalty. Some of the emails were threatening physical harm if the bill passes the Senate. It is amazing that anyone would send that kind of email. It certainly is not appropriate, but there are some who are so passionate on these issues, they feel violence is the answer to every question. Please write the Senators and thank them for their courageous vote and keep them and those who threaten violence in your prayers. One of the Senators who voted yes on the bill told me he could have done the easy thing and voted to retain the death penalty. He said he couldn’t do that. He needed to do the right thing and vote against the continuation of the death penalty. Please keep our Legislators in your prayers. This can be a very difficult job.
Our Adoption Bill, HB 713, was also passed in the House on Friday 84 votes to pass and 16 votes against. That’s a strong vote and we hope to continue the momentum in the Senate. This bill still has a third reading, but for some reason is not on the schedule Saturday. I expect the third reading will be Monday and then it is on to the Senate. This is another landmark effort and another reason to thank our legislators
Saturday will be a long day for our Legislators as they prepare for the Transmittal deadline on Wednesday. Hearings are over except for money bills. The rumor is they will try to push through and finish up on Tuesday.
Dr. Rocky White, an outspoken leader in health care reform, presented a program at Carroll College Monday evening. A small, but very interested group, was on hand to hear his views on health care. He is currently heading a Blue Ribbon Panel for Health Care Reform for the state on Colorado and is promoting a single payer health care plan. It was a great talk. He brought up some interesting issues and some interesting solutions. He also spoke to a group at the Capitol on Wednesday as well as meeting with a number of legislators on Thursday. Health care and access are huge problems and don’t seem to be getting better. Having Dr. White with us last week may open the dialog to discuss solutions to the health care problem.
Our latest count of bill requests stands at 2,562. One thousand four hundred forty have been introduced, 859 in the house and 581 in the Senate. The question is how many will make transmittal?
2007 Legislative Priorities
of the Montana Catholic Conference
The Montana Catholic Conference evaluates its legislative priorities in relation to the rich tradition of Catholic social teaching.
PURSUING SOCIAL JUSTICE
“[They will say], ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:37-40
Our faith reflects God’s special concern for the poor and vulnerable and calls us to make their needs our first priority in public life. Economic decisions and institutions must be assessed on whether they protect or undermine the dignity of the human person.
HEALTH INSURANCE/HEALTH CARE
SB 22 Expand CHIP eligibility to 175% of fed poverty level passed third reading in the Senate 31-19 and is on it’s way to the House.
SB 421 SCHIP coverage for pregnant women was pulled at the request of the sponsor.
HB 387 Increase CHIP eligibility level from 150% to 200% of poverty level was tabled in committee.
HB 198 Increase CHIP Dental Benefit. This bill passed the House 88-12 and is on its way to the Senate.
HB 406 Montana Community Health Center support act. This bill provides state funds to create new Community Health Centers and expand dental and mental health services in existing Centers. A hearing was held in House Appropriations. No action has been taken. I’m not sure if it needs to meet the transmittal deadline due to the funding component, but it is still in committee.
MENTAL HEALTH
HB 365 Fund suicide prevention. This important bill addressed the largest cause of death in young people. A hearing was held on 2-6 and was supported by a large group. No opponents spoke against the bill. Another appropriations bill that will be worked into the larger bills. This bill is also being held in Appropriations Committee and may not have to be transmitted by Wednesday.
POVERTY/HOUSING/FOOD/ENERGY
HB 575 Revise TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) laws was tabled in committee.
HB 410 Create task force on reducing poverty in Montana was tabled in committee.
SB 264 to provide for Low-income rates for local government utilities passed the Senate 28-22 and is on its way to the House.
HB 516 Fund affordable housing revolving loan act was tabled in Committee.
HB 391 Use of food stamps at farmers markets was also tabled in committee as was HB 396 allowing WIC vouchers to be used at farmers markets.
TITLE LOANS
HB 29 A bill to Revise laws on Title and Pay Day loans by Representative John Parker, has been heard, but has run into major problems was been tabled in committee.
CORRECTIONS
A special subcommittee has been named to deal with the plethora of sexual offender bills introduced this session. The committee continues to meet. Now that we are close to transmittal, this subcommittee may change.
Other bills are in the hopper regarding community corrections, treatments, education, and transitional opportunities.
HB 475 Fund training opportunities at women’s prison has been sent to House Appropriations. A hearing was held on 2-12. I felt the hearing was positive but no action has been taken. As of 2-24, it is still waiting action in committee.
HB 452 Achievement Credit Bill. The purpose of this bill is to allow for credits to reduce sentence restrictions for parolees who on their own go to school or learn a trade. It is a very good bill and we supported it. It passed the House 92 for and 6 against.
HB 698 Revise laws for transition money for released inmates. This bill would have provided increased amounts of gate money to help released inmates get started on the streets. This was a good bill and we supported it. Unfortunately, it was tabled in committee.
DRUG TREATMENT AND DRUG COURTS
Increasing drug treatment and mental health treatment in our prisons has not made it to committee. Drug courts are a very affective means of working with those convicted of non- violent drug offenses. Success has been very high in these courts.
HB 78 Fund and administer drug treatment courts. This bill requests $2,000,000 to fund drug courts in Montana. This is one of two nearly identical bills. This one comes from the Democratic side of the isle. A fiscal note was printed on Feb. 12th. Who knows what’s going on with this bill? It is being held, perhaps as a funding bill. This bill and the next on the list are awaiting action.
HB 472 Appropriate funding of Drug Courts, the Republican version, requests $2 million to fund Drug Courts in the state for the next biennium. A hearing was held in House Appropriations Tuesday, Feb. 6th.
These efforts are very important to the future of safe communities and controlling costs in our Corrections system. Treatment and keeping non-violent offenders in the communities and in their jobs has a much greater success rate than locking them up in prisons. We support these efforts as a benefit for the common good.
Those of you who support the work of drug courts need to write to the House Appropriations Committee and ask for support in funding these very important programs.
IMMIGRATION
SB 258 Deny licenses and license renewal to illegal aliens passed third reading 31-19 and is on its way to the house. It states that you have to prove you have a valid SSN to get a state license for construction or other business enterprises.
SB 346 Prohibiting certain contracts with illegal aliens was heard Tues. Feb. 6th in Senate Judiciary. No action has been taken. This is a bill that does not allow contractors to employ illegal aliens. It is part of a multi bill presentation to curb illegal immigration into the state. Penalty is a misdemeanor. It has not made the floor vote yet. It will need to do so in the next couple days to make transmittal.
SB 260 Felony for illegal alien to register to vote. This bill was held up in the Senate with a motion to indefinitely postpone the floor vote and is probably dead.
HB 185 Injunction and license revocation procedures for hiring illegal aliens was tabled in House Judiciary.
Protecting Human Life
“We must begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill, or collude in the killing, of any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem.” USCCB, Living the Gospel of Life
ABORTION
SB 500 Remove prohibition of CHIP insurance for contraception passed out of committee 6-3 and should be on the Senate floor Monday or Tuesday.
LC1048 Eliminate liability limits for abortion services for minors did not get out of draft so it is dead.
HB 403 Constitutionally recognize life begins at conception. This bill, sponsored by Rick Jore, required a constitutional amendment. Passage in our state houses would have put it on the ballot in the next election cycle. An amendment was added in the committee saying it did not protect life if associated with the Death Penalty. The amendment confused the issue at best. It was removed on the House floor, but caused enough confusion to affect the vote. It was defeated in the House.
LC1582 Ban embryonic stem cell research. This draft has been put on hold at the request of the sponsor.
LC1607 Encourage federal funding for stem cell research. This bill was ready for delivery, but evidently was not picked up so we expect it is dead.
HB 321 Parental consent or judicial bypass for abortions passed the House and is on its way to the Senate. The sponsor believes this bill with the judicial bypass option will prove to be constitutional. It could have a tough fight in the Senate. We supported this bill.
HB 215 Ban human cloning research has been referred to the Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee in the Senate. This bill will be heard after transmittal in sometime in March.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
SB 306 An act to eliminate the death penalty. This bill passed second reading in the Senate 27 for and 21against on Friday afternoon. This is the first time full Senate has debated and voted on this bill in recent history. If it passes third reading today, it will be the first time an abolition bill has ever passed either chambers vote.
National public opinion is changing. A majority of those polled last spring in a national poll favored life without parole as opposed to the death penalty. It has not proven to be a deterrent. It has proven to be much more costly. And, over 100 death row inmates have been found innocent in recent years due to new crime lab procedures including DNA.
The opponents are filling the airways with emails to the Senators, sometimes very threatening emails. Please email them in support of their very courageous vote. This is a very difficult decision to make and a very difficult vote to justify to some people.
Promoting Family Life
“As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” Pope John Paul II
ADOPTION/FOSTER CARE
HB 490 Adoption tax credit. This bill passed the House this week 100 to 0. It did not receive one negative vote in committee or on the floor. It is on its way to the Senate. It will correct the inadvertent tax penalty that occurs in Montana if adoptive parents take the tax credit offered by the federal government.
HB 713 Revise post-adoption services corrects a law that forbids private agencies from providing post-adoptive services to birth mothers. Agencies currently cannot help birthmothers with fees for GED, books, tuition, or other educational expensed. They cannot hire them even part time, or provide for other needs they may have as they heal and try to get back on their feet. This bill corrects those issues. It passed second reading in the House 84 for and 16 against.
FAMILY
HB 638 Fund family planning. This bill has been referred to Appropriations. No hearing date has been set.
HB 312 Amend the constitution to establish a parental bill of rights, introduced by Representative Michael Lange, R, Billings, passed the House 51-49 and is on its way to the Senate. Since it is a constitutional amendment it needs 2/3 of the combined House and Senate. It therefore needs 49 votes out of a possible 50 in the Senate to pass.
HB 118 Revise law on dispensing contraceptives. This bill was heard in committee on Friday. No action has been taken.
HB 612 Create responsible sexual health program was tabled in committee.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
LC1115 Establish Domestic partnerships. This bill is currently on hold and is not expected to make it to the floor.
SB 371 Include sexual orientation and gender identity in certain laws was tabled in committee Wed. February 14th.
SB 454 Include sexual orientation in hate crimes law was also tabled in committee.
Pursuit of the Common Good
In order for all of us to have an opportunity to grow and develop fully, a certain social fabric must exist within society. This is the common good. Numerous social conditions – economic, political, material, and cultural – impact our ability to realize our human dignity and reach our full potential.
RURAL LIFE/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
HB 451 Small town renewal program. This bill was to be heard Wed. January 3rd in House Appropriations but was not heard until Monday 2-12. This bill will support small town infrastructure needs. No action has been taken.
CATHOLIC HOSPITALS
SB 118 Eliminate sunset for hospital bed tax. This bill could have a major impact on our Catholic Hospitals and others in the state. It passed the Senate 47 for and 3 against. It is on its way to the House.
OTHER/CHURCH/NON PROFITS
Extend charitable endowment tax credit. There are 3 bills now in the hopper for endowments and building projects. None of them are looking very good for funding Church buildings, due to the size of the fiscal note. However, they are not done. Work is being done behind the scenes, for and against us. One such move against us is to remove religious buildings and endowments from the bill to allow for greater opportunity for this special interest groups’ projects. He is using the “separation of church and state” as the reason.
Alerts for Week of Feb 26-March 3
No hearings of interest (except appropriations) are on the schedule this week. Transmittal break is scheduled to begin at the end of business Wednesday, or earlier if business is completed early.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Who is my legislator? Call 1-406-444-4800
Legislative Messages: 1-406-444-4800
Senate mailing address:
Senator name
PO Box 200500
Helena, Mt 59620-0500
Fax 1-406-444-4875
House of Representatives mailing address:
Representative name
PO Box 200400
Helena, Mt 59620-0400
Fax 1-406-444-4825
MCC contact information:
Moe Wosepka, Executive Director
- 11th Ave, Helena
Office 442-5761
Email: director@montanacc.org
Website: www.montanacc.org
To subscribe to the MCC Legislative Alert Network Email: mccalertnetwork@bresnan.net or log onto our website www.montanacc.org
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