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UM School of Journalism HELENA — In a soft and affable voice, Republican Rep. Pat Ingraham introduced herself and said she represented the people of Sanders County. Those words were the last the entire room would agree on in an emotional two-hour hearing Friday on her bill to require that women have an ultrasound before they get an abortion. Last week marked 38 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a right to an abortion. But as the tears, outrage and gavel-slamming that attended Ingraham's House Bill 2...
Community News Service UM School of Journalism HELENA — In a soft and affable voice, Republican Rep. Pat Ingraham introduced herself and said she represented the people of Sanders County. Those words were the last the entire room would agree on in an emotional two-hour hearing Friday on her bill to require that women have an ultrasound before they get an abortion. Last week marked 38 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a right to an abortion. But as the tears, outrage and gavel-slamming that attended I...
HELENA — Some Republican lawmakersare hoping to advance a new vehicle to fund Montana's K-12 education for the next two years. The news comes as the sponsor of an earlier GOP plan to increase state aid to public schools all but abandoned hope that his bill would ever pass the Senate. Senate Bill 403, sponsored by Sen. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, would have given schools statewide a slight funding increase over next biennium, in part by redistributing oil and gas revenue from school districts with surpluses. `But that bill failed i...
Photo by Cody Bloomsburg Warden Mike Mahoney talks to an inmate through the window of an isolation cell at the Montana State Prison. Budget cuts advancing through the Legislature could make his prison more dangerous and push more inmates into community facilities, he says. Warden worries about the effects of cutting Montana's prison budget By CODY BLOOMSBURG , Community News Service UM School of Journalism DEER LODGE – Warden Mike Mahoney rests his arm on the steel door as if it were his backyard fence and he was talking t...
Session watchers weigh in on the Legislature CODY BLOOMSBURG Community News Service UM School of Journalism HELENA – From his office in Missoula, University of Montana political science professor Jim Lopach has watched legislative politics for decades. This session, he said, is different. He said he is surprised by the boldness of lawmakers looking to get at the roots of things, to shake up what has long been settled, and by their willingness to challenge the powers that be, from President Barak Obama down to city and c...
AP Photo/The Independent Record, Dylan Brown Gov. Brian Schweitzer announces that he and Sen. Jim Peterson, left, and Rep. Mike Milburn have agreed on a compromise on the main budget bill, HB 2, Friday in the Governor's conference room in Helena. AP Photo/The Independent Record, Dylan Brown Gov. Brian Schweitzer announces that he and Sen. Jim Peterson, left, and Rep. Mike Milburn have agreed on a compromise on the main budget bill, HB 2, Friday in the Governor's conference room in Helena. HELENA — Deadlines make deals come e...
HELENA — It started like almost any family dinner at a local bar and grill — everyone sort of rehashes their day before the waitress brings out their orders. The dad razzes one of the kids for something and pretty soon the whole table is trading jokes. But it wasn't a family. It was eight Republican Montana state lawmakers who feel it is their duty to strengthen states' rights, and hope to do that in part by nullifying federal laws. Rep. Krayton Kerns of Laurel poked at Whitefish Rep. Derek Skees for voting in favor of mot...
HELENA — From her wheelchair on Friday, Shyla Patera told the panel of lawmakers something they don't often hear. "I want to live and work and pay my taxes," Patera told members of the Senate Finance and Claims Committee. Patera represents four Montana independent living centers that help disabled people with the daily tasks of life so they can stay in their own homes and be a part of their communities. In 2003, enrollees in the program were reduced to three showers per week. If budget cuts proposed by Republicans become r...
HELENA — They call it the Constitution Caucus, and its message rang clear as veteran Rep. Krayton Kerns rose in the state House Friday to oppose a bill to provide counseling for children from violent homes. "Don't vote your heart on this one, vote your oath," Kerns urged his fellow legislators. "The constitutional vote on this is no because it will grow government." Rep. James Knox, a freshman Republican from Billings, couldn't have agreed more. Killing the bill wasn't the easy thing to do, he said, but it is why he and o...
Community News Service UM School of Journalism HELENA — They call it the Constitution Caucus, and its message rang clear as veteran Rep. Krayton Kerns rose in the state House Friday to oppose a bill to provide counseling for children from violent homes. "Don't vote your heart on this one, vote your oath," Kerns urged his fellow legislators. "The constitutional vote on this is no because it will grow government." Rep. James Knox, a freshman Republican from Billings, couldn't have agreed more. Killing the bill wasn't the easy t...
Lawyers and Doctors Square Off over Malpractice Reform Posted on February 15, 2011 by session2011 0 By Cody Bloomsburg Community News Service HELENA — Physicians and lawyers disagreed on two measures to reform malpractice laws today, with doctors saying the bills would lower costs and lead to better care and attorneys claiming they would gut patients' rights to accountability. The first bill presented to the House Business and Labor Committee would exclude evidence given during an independent practice's quality-assurance h...
CODY BLOOMSBURG Community News Service UM School of Journalism HELENA — By session's end, lawmakers say the taxman will most likely have new marching orders in Montana: Take less from businesses and, at the very least, no more from private citizens. Two competing bills promise to cut the state's property tax on business, and legislators are also considering an income-tax credit for homeowners. The session's tax bills also include a handful trying to address the problem of property values skyrocketing past Montanans' i...
By CODY BLOOMSBURG, Community News Service HELENA — The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill 7-5 on Thursday to replace the death penalty with life in prison without parole. The weight of the decision was clear in Sen. Greg Hinkle's voice as he told fellow lawmakers he would vote to put the bill on the floor. "I probably struggled with this issue more than anyone," said the Republican from Thompson Falls. Hinkle said while he absolutely believes heinous criminals need to be severely punished, a tour of death row made h...
CODY BLOOMSBURG Community News Service UM School of Journalism HELENA — It is late afternoon and only a handful of lawmakers are at their desks in the Senate when Sen. Minority Leader Carol Williams walks in holding a blue trophy topped with a golden pig. As she heads to her desk, the Missoula Democrat stops to show Sen. Ryan Zinke the traveling award that Democrats give to their party's Senator of the Week. She tells the Whitefish Republican that it could be his if only he would switch teams. Zinke has no qualms about v...
HELENA — Frustration strains her voice and her eyelids flutter like camera shutters trying to capture a car wreck as Rep. Ellie Hill speaks about a bill requiring ultrasounds before abortions. "I do not appreciate the government of the state of Montana mandating me to undergo medically unnecessary procedures when I'm making decisions in my own family," she says. With no less fervor, the Missoula Democrat and former Boise prosecutor warns that the Montana Supreme Court will surely strike the measure down. Rep. Bill Harris sits...
HELENA — Hunters and game wardens came together Thursday against a measure they said would make Montana a "poachers' paradise." "I would absolutely support this bill if I was a poacher or an outlaw," said Vito Quatraro of the Headwaters Sportsman Association. Would make investigations harder for wardens House Bill 369 would no longer allow game wardens to charge people for negligently breaking the laws, and it would make it harder for them to conduct searches and seizures. 'I didn't know' would become an excuse Quatraro s...
HELENA — Montana's 62nd Legislature opened for business this week, with lawmakers offering more than 1,900 ideas for bills so far. Most won't survive the journey into law, but they do show what's on legislators' minds. High on the list is regulating Montana's booming medical marijuana industry, cracking down on repeat DUI offenders, cutting business taxes, scaling back environmental regulations and cutting the costs of Montana's health care and worker's compensation systems. That list reflects the agenda of many Republican l...
HELENA – April 15 could be a double tax day for Montana college students if the Legislature's $29.5 million cuts to higher education are still on the books when the Board of Regents meets that day, student lobbyists said last week. But University System officials are keeping mum on just how high tuition might increase or what services might be reduced if the Legislature's cuts to the governor's University system budget become a reality. Until that meeting, I honestly don't know," said Janelle Booth, a lobbyist for students at...
HELENA — Montana's 62nd Legislature opened for business this week, with lawmakers offering more than 1,900 ideas for bills so far. Most won't survive the journey into law, but they do show what's on legislators' minds. High on the list is regulating Montana's booming medical marijuana industry, cracking down on repeat DUI offenders, cutting business taxes, scaling back environmental regulations and cutting the costs of Montana's health care and worker's compensation systems. That list reflects the agenda of many Republican l...
Rep. Cleve Loney, R-Great Falls, and fellow House members ate pizza as they worked through the dinner hour on the session's final evening. The 2011 Legislature considered more than 1,100 bills over the past four months. HELENA — Rep. Liz Bangerter has the angular build of a runner. No surprise, the Helena Republican runs and lifts weights to stay in shape. The first-termer came into the Capitol sure that she could keep her feet under her for the full 90 days. She was wrong – sort of. Community News Service/Cody Blo...
