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HELENA – A bill making its way through the Montana Legislature would expand a program that the bill’s sponsor says could incentivize new hunters to take hunter’s safety. Senate Bill 218, introduced by Rep. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell, allows anyone between the ages of 10 and 32 to obtain an apprentice hunting license, which requires new hunters to hunt only in the presence of a mentor, age 21 or older. The bill also clarifies provisions of current law that previously could have prohibited 10- and 11-year-old hunters from obtaining appre...
HELENA -- A bill that could outlaw abortion by defining a fetus at any stage as a person passed the House last week. Introduced by Rep. Derek Skees, House Bill 595 would give Montana voters an option to approve a constitutional amendment that would define a person as “all members of the species Homo sapiens at any stage of development.” “Every single life matters,” Skees said. “From the moment of the first mitosis, to the last breath we draw before we get promoted.” The bill was widely condemned by House Democrats, who said there were proble...
Liz Schwartz’s brother overdosed in their parents’ garage after sucking prescription opioids out of a used fentanyl patch. His mother found him on the floor and immediately called an ambulance. He made it to the hospital in time and survived. But within a year, Schwartz’s father overdosed the same way. He, too, survived. “You think the addict is getting clean, or they’re on the right track to getting there and there’s setbacks like that,” Schwartz said. “It’s terrifying.” While Montana’s drug of choice for decades has been methamphetamine,...
HELENA -- With the special congressional election quickly approaching, Montana lawmakers heard heated testimony on a bill last week that would allow counties to opt for mail-in ballots. Senate Bill (SB) 305, introduced by Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls would just apply to the upcoming special election between Republican Greg Gianforte and Democrat Rob Quist -- both vying for the congressional seat vacated by now Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. "This election is going to be very expensive...
After uncertainty about how the upcoming special congressional election would change the makeup of the Montana Legislature, the nomination of Democrat Rob Quist and Republican Greg Gianforte means it’s back to business as usual at the state Capitol. Multiple legislators had announced their intention to run for the vacant congressional seat after former Rep. Ryan Zinke was nominated and then confirmed as U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Sen. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, and Reps. Amanda Curtis, D-Butte and Kelly McCarthy, D-Billings all vied for t...
HELENA - The Montana Legislature heard emotional testimony a bill last week that would include gender identity and sexual orientation in the state’s non-discrimination laws. Introduced by Rep. Kelly McCarthy, D-Billings, House Bill 417 would add LGBTQ-identifying individuals to a list of classes protected by the Montana Human Rights Act, meaning it would prevent them from being discriminated against when seeking housing, employment, and when using public accommodations. “I don’t know that discrimination is a privilege that’s worth defendi...
HELENA -- A bill that would have abolished the death penalty in Montana was narrowly voted down in committee last week on a 9-10 vote. House Bill 366, sponsored by Rep. Adam Hertz, R-Missoula, would have replaced a death sentence with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Hertz said the bill represented productive use of tax dollars, a pro-life philosophy from “conception until natural death,” and the notion of an offender’s redemption for their crimes. “I cannot in good conscience claim to be pro-life and support a system that ta...
HELENA - Members of the Montana House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee heard a bill last week that would require landowners to allow anyone access through their land in order to reach nearby public lands. Introduced by Rep. Tom Jacobson, D-Great Falls, House Bill 243 specifically prevents landowners with property that surrounds state land from allowing only certain wildlife outfitters access, sometimes through leasing. “There’s 1.2 million acres of inaccessible state land in the state of Montana,” Jacobson said. Jacobson said it’s an issue of...
SEELEY LAKE - Montanans who paid exorbitant costs for life flight services not covered by insurance testified at the Montana Legislature last week for a bill that would eliminate these costs. Senate Bill 44 would remove the burden of cost for patients using out-of-network air ambulance services and would instead require that insurance companies and out-of-network air companies come to a voluntary agreement on the charges, or else make a determination through litigation. The Airline Deregulation Act, which currently covers air ambulances, does...
