Week 12 Legislative Update:

March 22nd-26th

Appropriations

This week, the full house will debate HB 2, which is the main state budget bill. They will begin on Monday morning and continue throughout the day.  They are also expecting to be on the floor on Tuesday morning as well. 

The budget has been a bit confounded by the parallel process to determine how and where to appropriate the $2.7 billion which is coming to the state by virtue of the American Recovery Act, signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. The members of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Claims Committees have met this week to determine the parameters of the Act, what it can fund, and what needs are present in the state.  In addition to funds for rental assistance, SNAP and WIC, and other programs, we are seeing proposals to provide additional compensation to those who have provided direct health care services, revenue replacement for disability service providers as well as funds set aside for capital improvement and modification to address needs revealed by COVID-19. Because of legislative deadlines as well as federal deadlines, this process is going at lightning speed.

We are expecting to see a version of a bill to appropriate the funds by next Thursday. The primary bill is HB 632. There is also a related bill, HB 630, that appropriates funds from prior federal actions. 

Click here for the full schedule. Be sure to check it often as we have seen the schedule change with little notice.

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. 

Stay Informed

We will be posting an electronic newsletter each Friday during the 2021 legislative session. We will give you information about upcoming budget and general bill hearings, developments for other bills we are following and action alerts when these bills are coming up for votes.  

If you have accessibility needs and would like to receive the newsletter in another format, please contact Disability Rights Montana at advocate@disabilityrightsmt.org or call 800-245-4743.