Legislative Report

Greetings from Helena.

I hope everyone is enjoying spring. We have finished Legislative Day 77. There is still talk that we might finish before the allotted 90 days. Time will tell.

One of the bills we passed out of Judiciary Committee and the Senate was HB 567, the “School Marshall” bill by Representative Derek Skees (R) Kalispell. This bill will allow an employee of the school to be armed. The training for the Marshalls would be conducted by the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. This would be a voluntary program for the schools.

Another bill we passed out of Judiciary Committee was HB 500, the “Montana Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act”, by Representative Lola Sheldon-Galloway (R) Great Falls. HB 500 would outlaw abortion after 20 weeks, except in certain situations.

In Health and Human Services Committee, we passed HB 753 by Representative Dennis Lenz, (R) Billings. This bill attempts to reign in Child Protective Services from what seems like unlimited power. We heard a lot of testimony from people who had children removed from their homes for no apparent reason.

In Fish and Game Committee we had a hearing on the Governor’s nominees for the Fish and Game Commission. In testimony there was some concerns about some of the nominees. We will have to do executive action on them this week.

This is the time in the session where government really tries to grow. I vowed to vote for less Government and less taxes and that is what I intend to do.

It was good to see a few people from SD 18 this week.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding your questions or concerns. You can contact me by phone 406-989-1372, by e-mail [email protected], or by regular mail Senator Hinebauch Capitol Station PO Box 200500 Helena, MT 59620-0500.