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House rejects Senate version of state budget
Posted by:The House today overwhelmingly rejected Senate amendments to the state budget bill, sending the budget into a special joint committee of lawmakers from both houses.
House Bill 2, the state budget bill, was heavily amended by the GOP-controlled Senate after it was approved by the House. Some of the most controversial changes included reducing the expansion for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan and decreasing the amount of state money spent on education.
Since the houses could not come to agreement on the budget, it will be sent to a free conference committee, which is a joint panel of senators and representatives charged with ironing out differences. The committee has the power to change any part of HB2. Read More→
The voters had it right on CHIP
Posted by:By Representative Chuck Hunter
Healthy Montana Kids, the plan to insure 30,000 Montana children, is in trouble and needs your help. Senate Republicans - notably Dave Lewis - have spent the last week dismantling the program voters approved. Children need your help to reverse their actions.
When Montanans voted on Nov. 4, 70 percent of them said yes to the Healthy Montana Kids plan. They said yes to setting aside dedicated money - about $20 million per year - that could only be used for covering more children. That $20 million will be matched by about $80 million in federal dollars when the plan is implemented as written.
Voters also said yes to insuring 30,000 more kids than are currently covered by Medicaid and CHIP. The funding provided by Healthy Montana Kids would do what the Legislature has been reluctant to do - cover more of Montana’s uninsured children. Read More→
CHIP funding battle wages on
Posted by:By MIKE DENNISON
Within the next week, the Legislature must settle a partisan battle over funding Healthy Montana Kids, the expansion of children’s health-insurance approved by voters last November.
Most Republicans in the Legislature want to fund a program smaller than what voters overwhelmingly approved in Initiative 155. GOP senators have amended their version into budget bills before the Legislature.
Democrats, including Gov. Brian Schweitzer, are insisting the Legislature fully fund I-155, and say the GOP plan will forego some $50 million in federal funding for health insurance, leaving 14,000 kids uncovered. Read More→
Autism mandate passes in the House
Posted by:By MIKE DENNISON
The Montana House Wednesday strongly endorsed a bill requiring health insurance polices in Montana to cover treatment for children with autism disorders, moving it one step closer to becoming state law.
“It’s not every day when this body has the privilege to create a new future for the kids of Montana,” said Rep. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, the bill’s chief sponsor in the House. “But there are some issues that transcend ideology and transcend politics, and this is one of those issues.”
The House voted 77-23 for Senate Bill 234, which says as of July, health insurance policies sold in Montana would have to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism disorders for covered children up to age 18. Read More→
by CHARLES S. JOHNSON
The chief sponsor of the lone remaining property tax mitigation bill vowed Tuesday that he will try to kill it if the Montana Senate doesn’t better fund programs to help the elderly, the poor and disabled veterans with their tax bills.
“I am willing to advocate for the bill being tabled if we’re not committed to the programs,” Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, told the Senate Taxation Committee. “That’s a big statement because that throws us into chaos and that throws us into a special session. Nobody wants that.”
Jopek said he can quickly turn into a “tenacious opponent” of the bill if necessary. However, that doesn’t need to happen, he said, because the money is there to adequately fund these programs in House Bill 658. Read More→
"I think that it’s going to all work out, with the changes that we have agreed to. It’s not as much (spending for some programs) as I would’ve hoped, but apparently it’s more than other people wanted. As usual, we are trying to find the middle.” 
"[On term limits:] You empower the executive, you empower the lobbyists and that's not good for the system because then we lose what the citizen Legislature brings.” 