By Matt Brower
With Montana’s 67th regular legislative session having adjourned “sine die” on April 29th, it’s time to review the results of the Montana Catholic Conference’s advocacy efforts at the Capitol. Before addressing specific bills, here are a couple of interesting numbers from the session. There were:
- 3,367 bill draft requests (the idea for a bill submitted to Legislative Services)
- 1,313 bills and resolutions introduced
- 724 bills and resolutions passed
- 17 bills vetoed
The MCC officially supported 19 bills. Of those, 8 were passed and signed into law by the governor, 1 legislative referendum passed and will appear on the 2022 general election ballot (HB 167—MT Born-Alive Infant Protection Act), and 10 bills failed to make it to the governor’s desk having died at various stages of the legislative process.
We officially opposed 7 bills. Of those, 3 died in the process and failed to make it to the governor, 3 bills were signed into law by the governor and 1 bill became law without the governor’s signature.
Highlights from the session include passage of the following, all of which were signed by the governor:
- HB 136—Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
- HB 140—Requiring abortion providers to offer pregnant women an opportunity to view an ultrasound and listen to the fetal heart tone
- HB 171—Montana Abortion-Inducing Drug Risk Protocol Act
- HB 229—Prohibiting health insurance plans offered through the exchange in Montana from covering elective abortions
- HB 279—Revising the tax credit scholarship program (school choice)
- SB 99—Establish parameters for K-12 human sexuality education
- SB 215—Establish the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
Unfortunately, we were unable to get our bill to abolish the death penalty (HB 335) out of the House Judiciary Committee. But, the good news on the death penalty is that we were able to defeat a bill to revise our state’s lethal injection protocol which would have moved us closer to restarting executions in Montana (HB 244).
We also saw two immigration-related bills opposed by the conference (HB 200 & HB 223) signed into law by the governor. And, unfortunately, our bill to protect rights of conscience for health care providers (doctors, nurses, etc.) failed in the Senate (SB 245).
At the conference, we now turn our attention to a variety of federal issues. One of the highest priorities is maintaining the Hyde Amendment and similar provisions in federal law that prohibit taxpayer-funding of abortion. We also anticipate movement to abolish the death penalty at the federal level and continuing efforts to pass legislation to protect Dreamers and DACA recipients.
In addition, we have already started preparing for Montana’s 2023 session. It will be here before we know it!
To stay engaged and informed, make sure to sign up for the MCC Advocacy Alert Network by visiting www.montanacc.org/take-action/.
If you have any questions about the work of the Montana Catholic Conference, please feel free to contact Executive Director, Matt Brower at (406) 442-5761 or director@montanacc.org.
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