Guest Opinion: Legislative Report

Greetings from Helena!

This week in judiciary committee we heard four pro-life bills. HB136 the Pain Capable Bill, HB140 which allows a pregnant mother to see the ultrasound of her baby before an abortion, HB171 which puts restrictions on abortion drugs and HB167 the Born Alive Bill. The Born Alive Bill simply states that a baby who survives an abortion must receive medical attention and not just put on a shelf to die. A few of the opponents of the bill were Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, The National Association of Social Workers, and Montana for Reproductive Rights. HB167 is a Referendum, which will be on the ballot in our next election.

One of the bills we heard in Public Health committee was SB142. This bill would change the children to caregiver ratio in childcare facilities. In eastern Montana parents are having a hard time finding childcare for their children. It is amazing to me that Government always thinks they know better than parents.

Probably the longest hearing that we have had in my committees was in Fish and Game, SB143. I have received about 4,000 emails and 100 phone calls on this bill, the majority being from out of state. Two things this bill is going to do is allow consistency for outfitters and require outfitters to pay more so we can fund right of ways to access public land for all hunters. SB143 will not take any tags from local hunters and will change the out of state picture very little. I am still waiting on the final numbers, but it looks like a win for all to me.

It looks like our mild winter has come to an end. Keep safe and if you are in Helena stop and see us.

For Freedom,

Senator Steve

Hinebauch