HELENA (AP) – Three Republican-sponsored bills to bolster short-term mental health care have passed through the Montana House with unanimous support, but cover only a fraction of what the governor proposed in January.
House Bills 33, 34 and 35 spend $3.6 million to facilitate local interventions in mental health crises.
Republican Rep. Ron Ehli of Hamilton says the plans push mental health care toward hometown treatment and would send fewer patients and inmates to the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.
The measures do not include long-term care, staff enhancements, preventative measures, and specific forensic and dementia units included in the $20 million mental health package that Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock recommended in his budget proposal.
The Republican proposals will be heard in the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on Thursday.
Legislators are back in Helena, with hearings scheduled today and Friday.
Expanding the federal Medicaid program by 70,000 more Montanans through the governor-backed House Bill 249 is up for a hearing at 3 p.m. Friday before the House Human Services Committee chaired by Bozeman Republican Art Wittich.
8 a.m. – E-cigarette tax. House Bill 579 provides for a tax on electronic e-cigarettes, sponsored by Rep. Nancy Wilson, D-Missoula. The hearing before the House Taxation Committee will be in Room 152 of the Capitol.
9 a.m. – Careless gun handling. House bill 539, sponsored by Rep. Willis Curdy, D-Missoula, would create a misdemeanor offense of careless handling of a firearm. The session will be held in Room 137 before the House Judiciary Committee.
3 p.m. – Honey of a sale. Senate Bill 31 would exempt raw honey from requiring a license if sold at a farmers' market. Sponsored by Sen. Lea Whitford, D-Cut Bank, the bill's hearing is in Room 137 of the House Agriculture Committee.
3 p.m. – Bison restriction. House Bill 194, sponsored by Rep. Alan Redfield, R-Livingston, would require a forage analysis to be conducted before bison could be placed on public or private land in Montana. The hearing will be in Room 335 before the Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee.