Legislators at teleconference discuss Medicaid expansion

During a teleconference in Havre with local legislators, Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, said he favors the Democratic bill that would continue Medicaid expansion over the Republicans proposed plan.

Windy Boy said he prefers the bill written by Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, draft to extend the sunset for Medicaid over what Rep. Edward Buttrey, R-Great Falls, plans to propose.

Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, said Buttrey’s plan would include a work requirement as well as requiring people on Medicaid to list their assets.

Windy Boy and Bachmeier were the only legislators participating in the weekly videoconference from Helena.

Buttrey’s plan is a stricter Medicaid, Windy Boy said, adding that it is still too early to tell if they will be eventually merging the two bill drafts together in hopes of a compromise.

He said that Caferro’s bill argues that, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

Bachmeier said one of his bills this session dealing with car insurance in the Montana was heard Thursday, where he believed the proposal went well.

The legislative website reports was tabled Friday in the Business and Labor Committee.

The bill would requires vehicle insurance companies to cover original or equal-quality parts for repairs and require customers’ consent for use of non-conventional parts.

In Montana, if someone’s vehicle is damaged, insurance companies are not required to pay to replace damaged vehicle parts with original or equal quality parts, Bachmeier said. Other states such as Wyoming require companies to do so, he said, although this would cause insurance premiums to rise.

He said that during the hearing he found out that Montana is already one of the highest-premium states in the country because people have to drive longer distances than in most other states. Because people have to drive farther means more travel and a higher chance of accidents, Bachmeier said.

A 2017 study by Certified Automotive Parts Association reported people would see, on average, an additional $1.50 a month in premiums to cover original or equal quality parts, Bachmeier said.

“We have some of the highest premiums, we might as well have the safest parts put on in the country,” he added.

Montana State University-Northern Communications Director Jim Potter told the legislators that the university’s faculty is watching what develops with Senate Bill 152, a bill proposing to remove the sunset for the 6 mill levy that helps fund the university system.

Potter said that because the 6 mill levy has passed every 10 years since it was first established there should be no need for the levy being voted on. The bill would remove the sunset, he said, although a sunset could be reinstated later.

Bachmeier said another bill he is concerned with is House Bill 172, allowing counties and five multi-county veterans service offices to create more pilot programs that can receive state grants.

This bill was introduced by David Bedey, R-Hamilton, Bachmeier said, and creates $150,000 in grants for veteran programs contingent on these programs also raising money through levies to match. Bachmeier said there were some issues with the bill in the state administration committee and was tabled Friday.

Bear Paw Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Tuss said one bill that he is watching is House Bill 52, a bill to revise and make permanent funding for various economic development programs across the state. He said if the funding is not continued, economic development programs would cease to exist.

Windy Boy said he has already co-sponsored the bill, introduced by Rep. Jim Keane, D-Butte.