Author: forwardmontana

Halfway, people.

That’s right — we’re halfway through the 2019 legislative session. Next week is transmittal, which means all the legislators will go on a short spring break (Panama City Beach, anyone?). But more importantly, it means that bills have to advance through their original body (either the House or the Senate) by Saturday, or they’re pretty much DOA. This doesn’t apply to revenue bills ike the budget, infrastructure, or Medicaid expansion, which get more time because they’re hella complicated.

That means there are gonna be a lot of updates and probably a lot of RIP’s this week — but it also means we’ll have a more specific slate of bills to really focus our energies on. And legislators will be heading home for transmittal/spring break, so it’s a great opportunity to catch up with your Representative or Senator in your hometown. Let’s bombard them with calls and reminders of Montana values! March is gonna be a party.

Subscribe to What the Helena here.

March Calendar

March 5 — Billings Legislative Forum March 6 — Park County Legislative Forum March 11 — RESCHEDULED International Women’s Day Lobby Day March 16 — Don’t Mess with Medicaid Rally March 25-26 — Indigenous Movements Interchange March 27 — Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana Day of Action

Pour One Out

A few REALLY GOOD BILLS were killed this week. First of all, HB 465, the bill to add gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation to the Montana Human Rights Act, which would prohibit LGBTQ+ people from being discriminated against in the workplace and housing markets, was tabled by the House Judiciary Committee. I’m pretty damn salty about this one, but FMT and our partners will obviously continue working tirelessly to ensure that our LGBTQ+ neighbors are protected by Montana law and free to live and work without discrimination. If these issues are important to you, you should volunteer with or donate to TransVisible, Montana Human Rights Network, Montana Two Spirit Society or Montana Gender Alliance.

Bills that would have let 16-year-old Montanans pre-register to vote (HB 508) and another that would have allowed 16 year olds to serve as Election Judges (HB 510) failed this week. HB 508 was tabled and HB 510 died on the House Floor. We know that pre-registration and allowing young people to serve as election judges have only positive effects for our democracy. It was especially hard to watch HB510 fail after passing second reading because a few legislators changed their votes.

Yes, we have receipts. Reps. Fred Anderson, Ross Fitzgerald, Julie Dooling, Mike Hopkins, Llew Jones and Ray Shaw all flipped on the bill between Wednesday and Thursday. Why? You’d better believe we’ll be working to find out. If any of these Representatives serve you, call them and ask: “Wtf?” — in, you know, a professional and respectful way. We’ve got these legislators’ contact info and a script for how to talk to them in our accountability alert right here.

Villain of the Week

The Senate Judiciary Committee also tabled a bill that would’ve provided state funding for a new database of missing indigenous people in Montana. Unfortunately, some legislators didn’t think the state was the body that should be spending money on this. Sen. Jennifer Fielder of Thompson Falls wins our prize this week for this incredible quote: “I don’t see any reason why tribes can’t already be doing this. They receive gobs of money from the federal government.”

Ahh, yes, the classic argument that tribal governments receive and subsequently misuse piles of taxpayer dollars. Not only is it false, it’s deeply racist. Indigenous people are Montana citizens and descended from those who first called Montana home, and to say that our state government holds no responsibility over the staggering rates of disappearance and murder in indigenous communities is absurd.

Medicaid Expansion

Reps. Mary Caferro and Ed Buttrey were on the Montana Free Press podcast this week talking about their opposing bills for Medicaid expansion. Caferro’s bill would continue the HELP Act as is — you know, as the wildly successful program that insured 100,000 Montanans and brought in thousands of new healthcare jobs and millions of dollars in revenue to the state? Ringing any bells?

Buttrey’s bill, on the other hand, would take health insurance away from Montanans by implementing strict work and reporting requirements. A recent study showed Buttrey’s bill would kick between up to 43,000 Montana Medicaid participants off their insurance.

Buttrey says the bill is “telling the story” of Medicaid expansion, which to him includes the fact that there are Montanans who had other insurance before and “took advantage of the HELP Act.” Ok, but what if your other insurance was prohibitively expensive or didn’t cover all your necessary medical care?

The hearing for Caferro’s bill, HB 425, is on March 16. We’re co-sponsoring a rally at the Capitol in support of continuing Medicaid expansion without kicking hard working Montanans off their insurance. Are you in, or are you in?

That’s it for WTH, Spring Break Edition. Go get to work!

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Margaret Grayson is Forward Montana’s Legislative Communications Fellow. A recent graduate of University of Montana, Margaret spent three years with the Montana Kaimin as a reporter and editor and interned at the Missoula Independent (RIP). Now she writes jokes for the internet and works to educate young folks about the legislative session.

Week seven, y’all.

It wouldn’t be the Montana legislative session if we weren’t talking about raw milk. That’s right, folks. THE RAW MILK PEOPLE ARE BACK AT IT.

I’m not a nutritionist and truly have no stance on the legalization of raw milk. But I live for the milk discourse!!!

A quick history: A bill to make sales of raw milk legal for owners of small herds of animals has failed every session since 2013. For the raw milk advocates, this is “the ultimate freedom bill.” Many public health officials disagree. But every session it sparks truly incredible amounts of debate and attention, and you’d better believe if this thing hits the House floor I’ll be there, popcorn in hand.

You can read about Montana’s raw milk black market (I KNOW) in this archived Missoula Independent story.

Subscribe to What the Helena here. 

 

Post-Valentine’s Day Bills to Crush On

A few bills very near and dear to our hearts over at FMT:

HB 508: This bill would let eligible Montanans pre-register to vote adding them to a list of voters who would be registered on their 18th birthday. Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., currently allow 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote at 16. Pre-registration exposes high schoolers to the positive effects of voting at a much younger age, and gives them longer before an election to learn about the mechanics and timing of voting.

HB 510: This bill would let Montanans serve as election judges starting at age 16. By lowering the age that Montanans can serve as election judges, the state demonstrates a sense of trust in young Montanans to safeguard the security of our election. This creates paths for young people to become well-versed in elections rules and procedures. Recruiting younger poll workers benefits both youth voter turnout and long-term civic engagement. Across Montana, poll worker positions are notoriously hard to fill. This would identify an entire additional group of election judges that are often needed to work the polls.

Both of these bills were heard in the House State Administration Committee on Thursday, and they’ll be taking public comment all week! Call (406)444-4800 to leave a message in support.

HB 431: The House Agriculture Committee heard a bill to invest in young Montanans who want to get into farming and ranching. It would use the already-existing Growth Through Agriculture fund to provide debt assistance for young farmers and ranchers, making it easier for them to stay in state and pursue their goals.

Farmers and ranchers are public servants who dedicate their lives to feeding the rest of the country. In Montana, they steward over 58 million acres of land and are critical to rural economies. Agriculture is Montana’s largest industry, with a $4.6 billion impact in 2015. But farmers are an aging workforce — in the U.S., the average age of a farmer is 58, and only 6 percent of farmers are under the age of 35.

HB 465: Did you know it’s currently legal in Montana for people to be fired from their job or denied housing just because they’re LGBTQ+? Yes. Seriously. In 20-fucking-19.

This month the Human Rights Campaign released 2018 scorecards for LGBTQ+ equality. Montana, along with all of its neighboring states, was placed in the lowest category. Our state lacks basic anti-discrimination protections in employment, housing, public accommodations, education and adoption.

We have a chance to add protections for our LGBTQ+ neighbors. The bill would add gender identity and expression and sexual orientation to the Montana Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination.

HB 465 had its hearing on Friday, but there’s still time to call your legislators, especially members of the House Judiciary Committee, at (406) 444-4800 and tell them to vote YES on HB 465.

By adding sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to the Montana Human Rights Act we give LGBTQ+ Montanans the opportunity to earn a living and take care of their family without the fear of being fired or denied housing because of who they are or who they love.

SB 152: This bill to lift the sunset on the 6-Mill Levy passed the Senate and is now in the House Taxation Committee. I wrote in more detail about SB 152 in Week 4 of What the Helena, but basically advocates and students shouldn’t have to launch a massive campaign every ten years to reaffirm the higher ed funding that voters have already approved for seventy years straight. Let’s make this investment in our colleges and universities permanent!

Medicaid Expansion

Another Republican legislator is taking a stab at a bill to continue Medicaid expansion, making it the third bill on the subject this session. The only positive thing I can say about this new proposal is that at least its sponsor, Sen. Bob Keenan, is transparent about his goals.

“I hope that the result of what we do in a new re-issued Medicaid expansion program is help people get off Medicaid expansion,” Keenan told MTPR.

According to the article, a Medicaid enrollee’s economic and residency status will be more strictly verified. They’ll also have to complete a health risk assessment when they sign up and get an individual health plan, “so that members will have responsibilities to get their health in better shape,” according to Keenan.

Alrighty, we’ll make this quick. You won’t “help” people get off Medicaid by making economic requirements stricter, you’ll just increase the number of uninsured or underinsured people in our state and raise health costs for everyone. Also, poor health is often a byproduct of poverty, so legislation to get people healthy would look a lot more like an increased minimum wage than a “personal health plan.” But thanks for playing, Bob.

Goodbye, Bad Bills. Please Stay Dead.

Sen. Roger Webb’s zombie landlord bill, SB 184 — the one that was tabled in committee and then untabled — is dead again. Will it stick this time? God, let’s hope so, I’m sick of writing about it. But this bill would have allowed landlords to send their tenants’ debt to collection agencies without a court judgement to verify the debt. If your senator voted against it, you should drop them a line to say thanks.

Also, the Senate Taxation Committee tabled a bill that passed in the House and would’ve required a supermajority of the legislature to pass new taxes, rather than a simple majority — seriously tying the hands of legislators and their ability to raise money.

A Brief Lesson In Budgeting

The Legislative Subcommittee on Education produced the legislature’s first draft of public education funding on Tuesday, and some bad news: the $20 million Governor Bullock requested for public preschool is not included.

But budgeting is far from over. The budget draft still has to go through appropriations committees in the House and Senate. And if a bill approving preschool funding, like HB 225, currently awaiting a vote in the House Education Committee, passes, the legislature will be required to fund it. We’ll keep you posted on the best ways to advocate for preschool funding — for now, tell the members of the House Education Committee that Montanans support education for our youngest citizens.

Upcoming Events

Mondays: Missoula Medicaid Expansion Phone Bank Feb. 26: Invest in Montana’s Future — Day of Action March 8: International Women’s Day Lobby Day

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That’s it for now.

Next time I see you folks, we’ll be HALFWAY THROUGH the 2019 legislative session. Thanks for reading. See you next Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

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Margaret Grayson is Forward Montana’s Legislative Communications Fellow. A recent graduate of University of Montana, Margaret spent three years with the Montana Kaimin as a reporter and editor and interned at the Missoula Independent (RIP). Now she writes jokes for the internet and works to educate young folks about the legislative session.

Oh hey.

I love getting to kick off WTH with good news. I spend 70 percent of this newsletter yelling about how we all need to call our legislators and 20 percent talking shit about bad legislation — but that leaves 10 percent for celebrating. So that’s what we’re doing first.

Subscribe to What the Helena here. 

 

Good News Crew

A bill to establish Indigenous People’s Day in place of Columbus Day passed the House this week! Hell yeah. I’m ready to drop kick Columbus into the past where he belongs. The House tried to kill Columbus Day last session and it died in a Senate committee, but that year the proposed new holiday was Montana Heritage Day. This is better.

For those of out there that think that Columbus Day celebrates the quaint town that serves as a gateway to the Beartooths (*ahem* Rep. Mandeville), you’re wrong. Columbus Day celebrates the dude who committed genocide against indigenous people across the Americas. He’s terrible. Columbus, MT is not. Also, notable that Columbus, MT is on the historical land of the Apsáalooke peoples, as Rep. Stewart Peregoy pointed out on the House floor.

Also, the 6 Mill Levy permanency bill passed in the Senate! This bill would make the 6 Mill funding for the Montana University System permanent, instead of expiring every ten years. Montanans have approved this funding for seventy years, and it’s time for advocates and students to focus their energies on improving Montana, instead of campaigning every decade for the same funding.

These are definitely victories, but we’ve still got a long road ahead for both bills. I’ll let y’all know as soon as I have info about next steps to keep these bills going! Find out how your legislators voted on 6 Mill Permanency and Indigenous People’s Day, and if your legislator voted in favor of either of these, drop them a note to say thanks!

On the Salty Side

Oh, did you think I’d gone all warm and fuzzy on you? THINK AGAIN.

I am UPSET about HB 380, which would have penalized bad landlords for wrongfully withholding security deposits, being tabled in committee (Check out the cool instagram story that Rep. Emma Kerr-Carpenter made about it.)  The legislature is stacked with landlords who are acting and voting in their own business interests, and I have had it up to here.

Also, remember last week when I talked about Sen. Roger Webb’s terrible bill that would allow landlords to send their tenants’ debt to collection agencies without a court judgement? It was tabled in committee at the time, but like the goddamn undead, it’s back. SB 184 passed out of committee and will be heard on the Senate floor. Call your senators and tell them to vote no! (406)444-4800!

This Week in Medicaid Rants: Hittin’ Ya with the Sweet Sweet Data

A new study from George Washington University shows that the work requirements proposed in a draft of Sen. Ed Buttrey’s Medicaid expansion bill, MeRIA, will cause around a third of Montana Medicaid participants to lose their health coverage.

You didn’t have to be Raven Baxter to see this coming.

“In total around 31,000 to 43,000 Montanans would lose coverage.” Leighton Ku of GWU told MTPR about Buttrey’s bill. “Most of that is due to the work requirements.”

Among those most likely to be kicked off the program? Parents of young children, those with a dependent with a disability, students, and people in rural areas. Basically, the same people that Medicaid expansion is designed to help!

Ku also went into how the draft of Buttrey’s bill is actually stricter than work requirements implemented in places like Arkansas. Other policies have exempted parents with children of all ages and all pregnant women — but the MeRIA draft only exempts parents of children under seven and pregnant women who can prove that meeting requirements would pose a risk to their pregnancy.

The full study is fascinating and also scary. You should read it if you’re invested in the health of Montana. The bill isn’t formally introduced yet, but you’d better believe we’re gonna come out swinging when it is. In the meantime, support HB 425, which would continue Medicaid Expansion without work requirements and is up for a hearing in mid-March.

Villain of the Week

Speaking of politicians ignoring research and data…

Everyone please take a moment to center yourself before reading the following paragraph.

Rep. Joe Read has a bill that would enshrine climate change denial into state law. The bill denies the existence of climate change and claims that leading climate scientists don’t understand physics. It calls for teaching climate change denial in public schools and discourages any future action on climate in Montana.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELENA, JOE READ!

Read also had a bill in 2011 that declared that global warming was a natural occurrence and “beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana.” There’s a hearing for his current climate denial bill, HB 418, on Monday.

Villain of the Week — Part Deux

Oooof. What Joe Read said was bad, but at least it wasn’t suuuper racist. Yes, folks, that’s right we’ve got another contender for Villain of the Week: Rep. Greg Devries. On Thursday, the floor got pretty heated around Rep. Devries bill that would amend the Montana constitution to define personhood as starting at conception (HB302). Devries decided it was appropriate to address the Montana Indian Caucus directly on the subject saying “Abortion is a plague on Indian culture and a genocide against your own children. One cannot value and celebrate a culture if that culture is murdering a future generation.”  

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELENA, GREG DEVRIES. 

Rep. Devries apologized today after the Montana Indian Caucus called him out — the literal least he could do. The reality is that reparations need to be paid to our indigenous friends and neighbors for racist and oppressive bullshit that they’ve endured and continue to endure. Consider making a donation to a native-led organization today. We particularly love the work of our friends at Western Native Voice.

 

That’s all for now. I promise I’ll keep mentioning the good news, even if it doesn’t seem like a lot sometimes.

See you next Sunday.

 

 

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Margaret Grayson is Forward Montana’s Legislative Communications Fellow. A recent graduate of University of Montana, Margaret spent three years with the Montana Kaimin as a reporter and editor and interned at the Missoula Independent (RIP). Now she writes jokes for the internet and works to educate young folks about the legislative session.

If this week’s newsletter had a theme, we’d be calling it Money Week. Yes, we talk about money a lot here and in the Capitol, but this week is special because we are talking! about! taxes! There has maybe never been anyone as hyped to write about revenue streams as I am right now, but that’s because of the never-ending supply of money-related gifs available to me.

Subscribe to What the Helena here. 

 

Tax Season

No, not that tax season. (Actually, yes, also that tax season. But I’m not here to remind you to do your taxes, I’m not your mom.) This is leg session tax season, meaning legislators have started to debate the best ways to bring in revenue to our somewhat cash-strapped state. There’s already one very bad proposal out there to eliminate property tax altogether and instead implement a state-wide sales tax of 2.5 percent.

A quick lesson: some taxes are progressive, meaning the amount of a person’s income or wealth taken for taxes increases the more income or wealth that person has. But some taxes are regressive, meaning that tax takes a larger portion of a person’s income or wealth the less they have. (There are also flat taxes, which affect everyone equally.)

A sales tax is a regressive tax. “Why?” You may ask. “Doesn’t a sales tax inherently tax everyone the same amount?” Yes, but a 2.5 percent tax on a pack of toilet paper or a winter coat is a larger portion of a poor person’s budget than a rich person’s. It hits the lowest-income folks the hardest, because there’s not really an option in our society where you can just stop buying toilet paper. (Well, I guess you could at your own sanitation risk.)

Our friends at Montana Budget and Policy Center study all this complicated stuff for a living and are a million times smarter than me about it. You can read their detailed report on how a sales tax would hurt Montanans here.

They also have a lot of proposals for ways to bring money into Montana’s government without hurting rural and low-income Montanans, like closing corporate tax loopholes and restoring the top tax rate on the wealthiest one percent of people in the state.

The Flip Side of the Coin

Last year, Montana’s revenue fell short of predictions, and this caused some pretty massive cuts to essential government services in a special legislative session. Some of those cuts were later restored, but it was still gnarly. The government needs money to run, but the very first challenge in budgeting comes from predicting how much money the state will actually bring in in the next two years. The Governor’s office and the Legislative Fiscal Branch came up with different predictions this year.

Basically, if we want the state to stop cutting services, we need more tax revenue. But we need those taxes to be focused on out-of-state corporations and the top percentage of income-earners, not low-income folks. Conservatives generally disagree with this strategy, so it probably surprises nobody that the House passed a bill that will make it harder for the legislature to pass new taxes in the future by raising the vote threshold to a ⅔ majority. This bill will be heard in the Senate Taxation Committee on Feb. 14, so you have plenty of time to send a message to the committee that a government needs the ability to raise revenue to fund the essential services Montanans need every day. You can call the Capitol switchboard at (406)444-4800 and leave a message for all the committee members.

Do It for the Children

NOW we get to talk about spending money, which everybody knows is much more fun than trying to make it. Governor Bullock has proposed $22 million for public preschools and another $8 million to continue the STARS grant program, which funds Head Start and other programs. HB 225, currently in the House Education Committee, would make this funding a reality. Republicans will have their own, much more school choice-y version of preschool funding later on in the session, but HB 225 would empower the schools that already serve our communities and have accountability systems in place to offer preschool. If this is important to you, the House Education Committee are the folks to contact.

Landlords and Tenants

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, ⅓ of Montana households are renters. And if you’ve ever been a renter, you know how easy it is to get screwed over by your landlord on security deposits — especially if you’re a first-time renter, like many students, and don’t know to document damage to the home when you move in.

Rep. Emma Kerr-Carpenter introduced a bill that will require landlords who are found in court to have wrongfully withheld a security deposit to pay back double the amount of the deposit to the tenant. Without this requirement, landlords don’t have a lot to disincentivize them from withholding security deposits, because even if they’re found to be doing it illegally, the worst-case scenario is that they have to give the money back. Even though it often doesn’t feel like it, the security deposit is money that belongs to the renter, and landlords have to prove if the renter doesn’t deserve to get it back.

HB 380 had its first hearing on Friday (check out our Instagram story from Rep. Kerr-Carpenter from the hearing!) Contact the House Judiciary Committee and tell them tenant’s rights are Montanans’ rights.

Villain of the Week

All this talk about rentals leads us to my favorite segment (alternative title: Who’s Trying to Screw You Over?). This week we’ve got Sen. Roger Webb from Billings in the spotlight. Sen. Webb had a bill, SB 184, that would allow landlords to send a tenant’s debt to a collection agency — therefore wrecking their credit and potentially their life — even if the landlord hasn’t proven to a judge that the debt is owed. Not awesome. Luckily, the bill was tabled in committee.

So who is this Webb fellow who has an interest in rental law? I’m so glad you asked. HE’S A LANDLORD. Last session he and Rep. Peggy Webb “collectively carried 15 bills to modify tenant-landlord laws or other state provisions that would have affected their business,” according to this Lee state bureau story on conflicts of interest from 2017.

It boggles the mind that a senator is allowed to continually bring bills that would harm tenants and benefit his own business interests.

Add It to Your Calendar

Feb. 11 — ACLU of Montana Lobby Day
Feb. 12 — We <3 Higher Ed Student Lobby Day
Feb. 14 — Equality in Montana Lobby Day & Teach In

A Few Quick Updates

SB 152, which we talked about last week and would repeal the sunset on the 6-Mill Levy for higher ed funding, passed out of committee on a 8-4 vote! It should hit the Senate floor soon, so it’s a great time to call your senator and show support.

Last week I wasn’t totally clear on the status of Rep. Ed Buttrey’s bill to take Medicaid coverage away from people who don’t meet work requirements — the bill is still in draft form, and we’ll let you know as soon as the bill is introduced.

See you next Sunday!

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Margaret Grayson is Forward Montana’s Legislative Communications Fellow. A recent graduate of University of Montana, Margaret spent three years with the Montana Kaimin as a reporter and editor and interned at the Missoula Independent (RIP). Now she writes jokes for the internet and works to educate young folks about the legislative session.

Hey friends.

I finally made it up to the Helena this week — and let me tell you, that place is popping. The session is in its prime and you should definitely find some time to jump in the figurative deep end. Honestly, the capitol building can be kind of intimidating — at least for me. Just like jumping in the deep end of a pool, it helps to have some kind of flotation device. Consider the citizen lobby days listed below your life jacket. Also, remember that Montana is one of just four states that has a true citizen legislature, meaning that your legislators are just regular folks — they just happen to be wearing suits and walking really fast.

Feb. 6 — Conservation Community Lobby Day Feb. 8 — Women’s Policy Leadership Institute Feb. 11 — ACLU of Montana Lobby Day Feb. 12 — We <3 Higher Ed Student Lobby Day Feb. 14 — Equality in Montana Lobby Day & Teach In

Subscribe to What the Helena here. 

Sometimes We All Get Tired of Sunsets

This week, FMT staffers testified on behalf of SB 152, which would make the 6-Mill Levy that we all voted on in November permanent. Right now the levy has to be re-approved by Montana voters every ten years, and while Montanans have voted to keep it for the past seventy years — yes, you read seventy right — the costs of passing the 6-Mill Levy via ballot measure keep going up. Plus, students, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet, have to deal with the anxiety of the 6-Mill Levy not passing and their tuition increasing by 20 percent. Affording college is already stressful enough (I should know, I just graduated in May). Let’s get rid of this sunset and just make it regular old funding, eh!

Pipelines

The Keystone XL pipeline is on the move  again, but there’s a couple bills that would help stop Eastern Montana from becoming a giant puddle of oil after leaks. SB 97 would require that the environmental impact reports for pipeline applications include how the pipeline would impact cultural sites, which could give indigenous communities a stronger argument in protecting their land from pipelines. HB 271 would require that pipelines not be built near places like wilderness areas and cultural sites. Both bills would require the installation of shut-off valves to protect from leaks or pipeline bursts.

We know that the fossil fuel execs are going to go ham on the whole “creating jobs” thing here, so it’s pretty important that you hit up the House and Senate Natural Resources Committees to remind them that short term jobs in exchange for longterm damange isn’t greeeeaaaattttt.

MeRIA… A Bad Bill Not an STD

Any time a legislator starts talking about “integrity”, you know it’s gonna be bad. We finally get to learn the details of Sen. Ed Buttrey’s Medicaid Reform and Integrity Act, extremely creepily nicknamed “MeRIA,” and it’s pretty much exactly what we expected.

Buttrey wants to require Medicaid participants to log 80 hours a month of “community engagement” time. Requirements like these have the unintended consequence of taking away coverage from people who meet them because of all the extra paperwork and red tape. People could end up losing coverage for all sorts of reasons — if their kid gets sick and they can’t work, or if they’re sent home early from their job waiting tables, or if they don’t have access to reliable internet to report their hours. And losing health coverage can make it waaaay harder to find work.

There’s no proof that strict requirements for earning health coverage increases long-term employment. There’s actually evidence that Medicaid expansion increases workforce participation among low-income Montanans, probably through the voluntary job assistance that’s offered along with the health coverage.

But, who needs proof, right? Decision makers should definitely treat Medicaid expansion the same way they treat things like Climate Change and teen pregnancy. That’s worked out really well for us.

Voting Rights 101

Two bills to watch regarding voting this session:

SB 149 would make the Secretary of State’s office responsible for return postage on ballots. There’s plenty of research that shows that paying postage on a ballot can be a significant barrier for young and low-income people in voting. If you’re old enough to remember a time without email, you may be scoffing at the idea of buying a stamp as a barrier, but let’s remember that in a free and fair election there shouldn’t be any fees associated with voting — even the 50 cent fee of a stamp.

SB 181 would require parole and probation officers to tell probationers and parolees that they’re legally allowed to vote. Yes, you read that right — even though people released from prison in Montana have the right to vote, we have to make a law requiring officers to inform them. At FMT we come across people all the time who think they can’t vote because of a previous felony! There’s a hearing on this one on February 5, and REMEMBER any attempts to quash this bill are blatant voter suppression. Thank you, and goodnight.

In Case You Missed It

This op-ed from members of Montana’s Indian Caucus lays out why the prevalence of missing and murdered indigenous women is a statewide crisis, and reminds us of the bills to support so Montana can see change. You can also check out these badass photos and videos from Native Days of Action this past week.

That’s all for this week. See you next Sunday!

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Margaret Grayson is Forward Montana’s Legislative Communications Fellow. A recent graduate of University of Montana, Margaret spent three years with the Montana Kaimin as a reporter and editor and interned at the Missoula Independent (RIP). Now she writes jokes for the internet and works to educate young folks about the legislative session.

Week 3, baby.

Let’s start with some good news.

Senate Bill 143 took a brief run at ending election-day voter registration before it was tabled in committee on Wednesday, which means it’s more than likely dead. Montanans voted overwhelming in favor of Election Day Registration in 2014, but apparently we have to keep reminding some legislators that voting should be accessible and equitable. Goodbye, bad legislation. You will not be missed. And a HUGE shout-out to everyone who contacted their legislators. Your voices were heard!

Raise the Roof

A bill passed out of the House Appropriations Committee that would give all state and university employees a 50-cent-per-hour raise each year for the next two years. Public schools could also get a $78 million dollar funding boost from a bill that passed its first vote in the House 97-3.

Cue “Just Got Paid” by NSync.

More money for teachers! Bipartisan support! I want to wrap myself up in these bills like a blanket and nap until May.

Settle in for a Long Infrastructure Battle

I’m having a strange feeling of deja-vu. This is the fourth consecutive legislative session where Governor Steve Bullock has proposed a major infrastructure package, and undoubtedly it will spark just as much debate this time around as it did in the last three. In 2015 and 2017 the infrastructure bill came down to the last day of legislative session — and both times it failed. So what I’m saying is we’re in for a long one here. The obvious flash points are going to be renovating Romney Hall at MSU and a new Montana Heritage Center, which each cost a cool $32 million.

As the Montana Free Press points out in this article, there are a lot of smaller infrastructure projects, like affordable housing, that aren’t included in the bigger bill but are worth keeping an eye on because they will have a huge impact on the daily lives of Montanans. #BrokeAF

MMIW Movement

Last Saturday, around 500 people gathered at UM for a candlelight vigil in honor of missing and murdered indigenous women. Native women are far more likely to experience violence, including sexual violence, than other groups. Twenty-four Native women went missing in Montana in 2018.

HB 20 passed the Montana House requiring all legal authorities, including tribal authorities, to report missing children directly to the state’s missing child information program. Family members of missing children will also be allowed to submit missing children reports.

HB 21 is a bill in the House Judiciary Committee that would allow the Montana Department of Justice to assist in missing person cases and assign a specialist to those cases.

You can follow our friends at Western Native Voice for updates on MMIW legislation and ways to get involved.

Excuse Me, What?

Billings Representative Rod Garcia wants to spend $500 million to buy the Colstrip coal power plant to… prolong its inevitable demise? Demand for coal has plummeted, coal power is more expensive to produce than alternatives AND the Colstrip plant is already ageing out of usefulness. Imagine how far $500 million could go in investing in renewable energy sources that could create long-lasting jobs for Montanans.

School Choice Rally

You know how Goldfish crackers have been successfully branded as a healthy snack even though their nutritional content is actually equivalent to a Cheez-It? That’s how I feel about school choice. Proponents say they are all about choice and freedom and the best opportunity for every child. But in reality, offering public funding for parents to put their kids in private schools only diminishes the quality of our public schools. Investing more in public schools is better for all children and Goldfish crackers are a delicious lie.

Leg Lesson: Young People Making Change!

Can you believe that in 1999 there were fewer than five Montana legislators who were under the age of 35? This legislative session, there are 19 young legislators — more than six times the number there were in 1999. #YoungPeoplePower

Our generation is the most diverse in history and it’s no coincidence that with an increase in young people, there’s an increase in female legislators & indigenous legislators! This is rad for a lot of reasons, but the one we love at FMT is that our decision-making bodies are closer to reflecting our actual communities — and that means that better policies that actually address the lived experiences of Montanans will get proposed & *fingers crossed* passed.

Newsletterception

It’s a newsletter, inside a newsletter, inside another newsletter…

You probably already knew this, but I am not the only one sending out updates on the legislative session! (It is likely that I am the one doing the most swearing.)

• Planned Parenthood is keeping you posted on all bills regarding choice and healthcare.
• Montana Women Vote is all over Medicaid expansion and other key issues.
• Montana Conservation Voters will send you updates on everything conservation, from utilities and pipelines to plastic bags.
• The Montana Nonprofit Association gets into the weeds of tax codes and all legislation that will affect nonprofit organizations.
• The Ripple Rousers blog and newsletter offers in-depth explanations of how the legislature works.

I’m sure there are more. If I didn’t mention your newsletter, I promise it’s not personal. Send me a sign-up link!

If you’ve made it this far, you must like learning about legislative issues.

Did you hear we did a legislative tele-townhall with young lobbyists and activists? You can listen to it here.

 

Last but not least, live footage of me avoiding the debate about plastic straws. 

Thanks for reading. Subscribe! See you next Sunday.

 

 

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Margaret Grayson is Forward Montana’s Legislative Communications Fellow. A recent graduate of University of Montana, Margaret spent three years with the Montana Kaimin as a reporter and editor and interned at the Missoula Independent (RIP). Now she writes jokes for the internet and works to educate young folks about the legislative session.