Legislators discuss bills during teleconference Thursday

Montana Rep. Joshua Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, said during Thursday's teleconference with the public that there are more important priorities in Montana than worrying about building a wall on the southern border.

Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, said he agreed with Kassmier in the wall, proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, is a federal issue and that he was unsure if Montana Senate President Scott Sales was serious when he proposed the bill.

Sales said in the beginning of this year he will introduce a bill during the legislative session that will propose sending $8 million to help Trump build a wall on the southern border.

Bachmeier said that $8 million, matched with federal funds, could provide 13,000 people with Medicaid in the state of Montana and it is important to keep that money in the state and help people.

Thursday local legislators discussed bills being introduced in this year's legislative session with attendees. Representatives from the county, the Chamber of Commerce and local health care providers attended this meeting and were able to discuss with legislators the bill they found important. Kassmier, Bachmeier and Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, were the legislators present for the conference.

Montana health

Public Health Director Kim Larson said that the public health department is watching the bills concerning the sale of raw milk, moving forward with multiple vaccination and immunisations and a bill which will add vaping to the Clean Indoor Air Act.

Bachmeier said that the Legislature has multiple raw milk bills being looked at this legislative session. He added that he, Kassmier and Tempel are all on the Agricultural Committee and have all been watching what is going on with these bills.

He said one of the raw milk bills being introduced will allow people to produce under 10 gallons of raw milk within a specific time restraint and can only be served to friends and family without heavy regulation. If an individual wants to produce more than the 10 gallons the milk would have to be regulated to the same degree as any other commercial dairy products, he said.

Bachmeier said that he would support this bill and he believes it is more moderate than some of the others.

Larson said the main issue with raw milk was without regulations, they had no way for public health to go back to a producer if the milk was making individuals sick. She said this puts a large strain on the public health department.

Tempel said in regards to adding vaping to the Clean Indoor Air Act the senate is introducing a bill.

The bill will be carried by Sen. Frank Smith, D-Poplar, Tempel said.

He added that he is looking through the bill, although "those people are tough to compete with, let me put it that way."

Kyndra Hall said Bullhook Community Health Center is watching what is going on with Medicaid expansion and the shortage of licensed behavioral health counselors.

The reciprocity licensing to come from one state to another for Montana is a big concern for them, she said. From the behavioral health side, Montana has a shortage of addiction counselors, licensed clinical professional counselor, licensed clinical social workers, she said. Hall added that the state is struggling getting licensed people into the state and having their licenses transfer from other states.

Bachmeier said that he wanted to discuss medicaid. He said Rep. Edward Buttrey, R-Great Falls, and Sen. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, are both working on seperate versions of medicaid expansion. Bachmeier added that Buttrey has not yet introduced his bill. Caferro, Bachmeier said, has introduced her plan and it is based on the current medicaid plan, although the big change would be removing the sunset date. He said this will be done to keep medicaid going and "running on all cylinders."

Bachmeier said when Buttrey does introduce his bill he will be happy to work with him and other legislators to make a plan that works for all Montanans.

"Ultimately need a bipartisan bill that works for all of Montana," Bachmeier said.

Tempel said that he opposes Caferro's bill, because it does not have a sunset.

"If you have a tax you should have a sunset, taxes are not always guaranteed," he said.

He added that moving forward with medicaid there should be an asset test and a possible drug test.

Bachmeier said he respectfully disagrees.

Working Montanans should have the right to affordable health care, he said, adding that medicaid so far has worked well for Montanans. He added that 67 percent of medicaid recipients are employed and the majority of the remaining 33 percent are disabled or caretakers.

He said another concern he has for the work requirement is it will hurt the people who do work but cannot meet the hour requirements.

Other bills

Bachmeier said that Montana State University-Northern Foundation Executive Director Jim Bennett was in Helena lobbying for Montana endowment of tax credits.

Tempel said he heard the bill relating to these tax credits and it looks like it will be a "slam dunk."

Kassmier said the Republicans have introduced an education bill Thursday morning and hopefully schools will have their funding needed by April of this year.

Bachmeier said a few of the bills he would like to highlight is a grant he wants to put in place for funding for Havre Beneath the Streets, tuition waiver reimbursement of colleges and the Vacant Property Registration Act.

He said the grant funding he wants to put into place for Havre Beneath the Streets will help them maintain infrastructure around and above the museum. Damage or crumbling infrastructure is causing water damage, he said, and he wants to create a specific grant program tailored for Beneath the Streets to apply for so they can make repairs around the area.

Bachmeier said he wants to also reimburse campuses for tuition waivers. He said Northern has a half-million dollars in tuition waivers and this bill would reimburse the campus for those costs. He said as a smaller campus Northern is incapable of absorbing the costs of the waivers.

Kassmier said one of the bills coming out of the house is a tax on fireworks. He said this will be done to provide workers compensation for volunteer firefighters. He added that people should feel welcome to contact him with their opinions on this bill.

Bachmeier said that he believes this legislative session is going well and is pleased with the work being put in so far.

"I feel like things this session have been pretty good," Bachmeier said. "It has actually been a pretty nice working pace so far. ... Gives us a chance to thoroughly work on our legislation."

The next legislative teleconference will be next Friday at noon, located at the Northern Montana Hospital Capital Room.

Bachmeier said that Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, should be in attendance at the next teleconference.