General Bills Monday, March 22nd At 8:00, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear HB 499 “Revise child abuse and neglect laws regarding reasonable efforts.” Click here to read this bill. This bill defines "reasonable efforts" to require the department to act in good faith to “develop and implement voluntary services agreements and treatment plans that are designed to preserve the parent-child relationship and the family unit and shall in good faith assist parents in completing voluntary services agreements and treatment plans.” It is sponsored by Rep. Trebas and will be heard in room 303. Click here for the contact information for the Senate Judiciary Committee. At 3:00 the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee will hear HB 328, “Provide guidelines for assessing language development in deaf children.” Click here to read this bill. It is sponsored by Rep. Keogh and will be heard in Room 317. Click here for the contact information for the Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Safety Committee. Tuesday, March 23rd At 8:00, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear HB 92 “Establish compensation program for wrongfully convicted individuals.” Click here to read this bill. It is sponsored by Rep. Kelker and will be heard in room 303. Click here for the contact information for the Senate Judiciary Committee. At 9:00, the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee will hear HB 598, “Generally revise disability parking laws.” Click here to read this bill. It is sponsored by Rep. Whitman and will be heard in room 405. Click here for the contact information for the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee. Wednesday, March 24th At 8:00 am, the House Judiciary Committee will hear HB 625 “Revise laws relating to the child and family ombudsman.” Click here to read this bill. The bill provides that the ombudsman ”“shall provide oversight of the child protective services provided by the department to identify and report on trends in the handling of the cases and make recommendations on ways to improve the child protective services system.” This includes providing reports twice each year to MT DPHHS to which the Department must respond in 60 days including a description of how it will implement the recommendations. It also removes requirements to “cooperate” with DPHHS in current law and replaces them with “consult.” It is sponsored by Rep. Lenz and will be heard in room 137. Click here for the contact information for the House Judiciary Committee. At 3:00 the Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Safety Committee will hear HB 426, “Revise laws regarding interactions between DPHHS and child and family ombudsman.” Click here to read this bill. It is sponsored by Rep. Lenz and will be heard in room 317. Click here for the contact information for the Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Safety Committee. Thursday, March 25th At 3:00, the House Human Services Committee will hear SB 111, “Revising laws re: conditional hunting permits for disabled persons.” Click here to read this bill. It is sponsored by Sen. Molnar and will be heard in room 152. Click here for the contact information for the House Human Services Committee. Friday, March 26th At 8:00, the House Judiciary Committee will hear SB 344 “Allow for adult inmates at Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility.” Click here to read this bill. It is sponsored by Sen. Bogner and will be heard in room 137. Click here for the contact information for the House Judiciary Committee. | 
