By Shaylee Ragar and Tim Pierce UM LEGISLATIVE NEWS SERVICE
HELENA –
The Montana Legislature passed a bill to continue Medicaid expansion, which
provides healthcare to about 69,000 low-income Montanans.
House Bill
658 continues the program that originally passed in 2015, but it adds work
requirements that force eligible enrollees to record 80 hours of work per
month. The Senate amended the bill, including adding a six-year expiration
date, and then passed it 28-22 on Tuesday. The House adopted the Senate
amendments Thursday 61-35.
House
Minority Leader Rep. Casey Schreiner, D-Great Falls, said House Bill 658 was a
compromise. He said most Democrats only wanted to remove the expiration of the
program, but Republican lawmakers wanted to add elements like work
requirements.
“It’s not
the product that I would’ve loved to see today. It’s the product that we have
and the best version of it that does the least amount of harm to people in the
state of Montana that we could get accomplished,” he said. “Neither side is
probably super happy with that bill as it stands, but it’s what’s best for the
people of Montana given that we couldn’t just take the sunset off.”
The bill
carries a price tag of about $800 million of mostly federal money.
Thomas said
the requirements as written are “pathetic,” and that he’d like to see stricter
mandates. He also said during the debate that state money used in the expansion
could fund other bills that invest in the state’s economy.
“Many, many
Montanans want this legislation to pass. But with it, you can’t turn the lights
on. You can’t pay your mortgage. You can’t buy a newer car. You’ve got to have
the rest of the picture to do this,” he said.
Sen. Daniel
Salomon, R-Ronan, said he recognizes complaints from other members of his
party, like the use of about $700 million in federal funding, but, he said: “We
accept federal money for highways. We accept federal money for education. You
name it we do it. Why draw the line and say, ‘we are not going to have
Medicaid, it’s too expensive. Here’s the line we’re going to make?’”
Rep. Denise
Hayman, D-Bozeman, says the bill is a product of hard work, and she’s glad to
see it moved forward.
“I think
folks in Montana will be delighted to see that bill signed by the governor,”
she said.
Firefighter Protection Act Becomes Law
Gov. Steve Bullock has signed into law the Firefighter Protection Act, which requires workers’ compensation insurance to cover presumptive occupational diseases, like cancer, for the state’s firefighters.
Senate Bill
160 was carried by Sen. Nate McConnell, D-Missoula, who said at the bill
signing that his brother is a firefighter, so the issue is personal.
The bill
has been a goal for the governor for several sessions.
“Every
firefighter should know Montana has their back. And it’s about damn time,”
Bullock said at a bill signing ceremony Friday.
The bill
requires a certain number of years service to make a workers’ compensation
claim.
Harold
Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Firefighters, said
those in the profession get cancer at rates multiple times of the general
population.
“It is the
job, it is the exposure, it is the toxic soup [firefighters] work in,”
Schaitberger said.
The
ceremony also honored Jason Baker, a firefighter who advocated for this
legislation before he died of lung cancer Feb. 20, after 16 years of service as
a firefighter in Great Falls.
McConnell
worked with a number of lawmakers across the aisle to pass the bill, including
Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, and Rep. Sue Vinton, R-Billings.
McConnell said it will help the next generation of Montana firefighters, and
that he’s honored to help this cause.
“There are
rarely opportunities for somebody to carry a bill that means so much to our
heroes,” McConnell said.
Lawmakers Pass Legislation to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
After a turbulent journey through the Montana Legislature, the bill named after Hanna Harris, who was found murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in 2013, passed the Senate 37-13 last week.
House Bill
21, also known as “Hanna’s Act,” would create a special position in the state
Department of Justice that would investigate all missing persons cases in the
state. The bill’s carrier, Sen. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, said it’s key to
addressing what she calls the “crisis” of missing Montanans to have a person at
the department “who has those skills and relationships to be able to cut
through all the bureaucratic red tape and make sure we do everything we can to
find those people who are missing or murdered.”
The Senate
Finance and Claims Committee had recently re-added language that forces the DOJ
to create the position and also brought back the $100,000-per-year funding.
Sen.
Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, voted against the changed bill.
“This is a
job description that we are putting into statute. That leaves no flexibility
for the position to adapt and adjust,” Fielder said. “Unless, you come back
next session and run another bill at the expense of the taxpayers.”
The Senate
Judiciary Committee also originally tabled the bill, but eventually passed it.
Shaylee Ragar and Tim Pierce are reporters with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Newspaper Association, the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Shaylee can be reached at shaylee.ragar@umontana.edu. Tim can be reached at tim.pierce@umontana.edu.
