Legislature reconvenes after transmittal break

Back from their midsession break, members of the 64th Montana Legislature had a two-day work week, but it was by no means light.

House Bill 249, Gov. Bullock’s Medicaid expansion bill, was given a “do not pass” recommendation by the House Human Services committee, effectively killing the bill. That means the bill won’t be debated by the full House unless 60 representatives vote to do so.

Democrats on the committee objected to the move, alleging it was mere “political shenanigans” by the majority party. But the committee chair, Rep. Art Wittich, R-Bozeman, dismissed their claim. The committee confirmed the “do not pass” with a 10-7 vote.

The hearing filled the Old Supreme Court chambers, and testimony ran into the hours of the early evening.

The bill would accept additional federal money available under the Affordable Care Act and expand Medicaid coverage to people earning as much as 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

The bill is aimed at filling a coverage gap that currently exists between those who are eligible for Medicaid and those who are able to buy insurance on the exchange.

There are two other bills sponsored by Republicans that expand Medicaid in some form. House Bill 455, sponsored by Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, is aimed at covering veterans, the disabled and poor parents. It doesn’t accept the available federal funds, and is estimated to cover about 10,000 people. That bill is awaiting a vote of the full house.

Lee Newspapers reported late last week that Sen. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, is working on a third plan, one that would accept the additional federal money but would include mechanisms meant to help people get off of Medicaid.

Backers of Bullock’s plan told personal stories and urged the panel to support accepting the federal funding and expand eligibility.

One supporter, Holly Blouch of Kalispell, suffers from sarcoidosis. She said the disease, which she was diagnosed with five years ago, has caused kidney failure and made her need a transplant.

But, she said, the disease makes it hard to work.

“Last September, I lost my job, my insurance and my spot on the kidney transplant list,” Blouch said.

Without insurance, she said, she can’t get on the transplant list. She added that she has about $20,000 in medical debt.

Clergymen, doctors and others spoke in support as well. Some said expansion would help veterans and Native Americans get coverage, others said it would help rural hospitals stay open by reducing the amount of uncompensated care they have to provide.

After nearly three hours of supporting testimony, opponents got their chance.

Some said it was federal overreach.

“Make no mistake about it, Medicaid expansion is Obamacare expansion,” said Henry Kriegel, the deputy state director of Americans For Prosperity. That group – founded by the billionaire Koch brothers – has run a campaign against Medicaid expansion throughout the state during the legislative session, urging citizens to ask their legislators to vote against the plan.

Another opponent, Ed Argenbright, said that because the money comes with federal guidelines it shouldn’t be accepted. Argenbright, a former education official, said he’d had experience with federal education mandates that were tied to funding.

A bill criminalizing doctors who prescribe abortion medication without being in the same room as the patient got its first hearing last week.

House Bill 587, sponsored by Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, would make it a misdemeanor for doctors to provide abortion care through telemedicine, including chemical abortions.

Regier said he doesn’t believe the practice is entirely safe for women to do without a doctor present.

“It’s about quality healthcare,” Regier said.

Opponents of the bill said it would chill the availability of abortion services. Robin Turner, of the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said it could hurt victims of sexual violence, noting that there aren’t many abortion providers in Montana, so it’s no guarantee someone who wants an abortion can get an appointment.

“Some of these victims may be unable to travel the long distances necessary to meet with one of the few abortion providers in Montana,” Turner said.

No immediate action was taken on the bill.

The House advanced a bill last week to allow the sale of raw milk, after a floor debate that centered on a balance of liberty versus risk.

House Bill 245, sponsored by Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, would allow farmers to sell raw, unpasteurized milk from small herds directly to consumers. The bill would apply to farms that have no more than seven cows, 15 goats or 15 sheep.

Ballance said that while pasteurization kills a lot of bacteria, it isn’t completely beneficial.

But Rep. Christy Clark, R-Choteau, said the lack of inspection worried her, and that diseases like brucellosis could be passed to people through raw milk.

“We are not a brucellosis free state,” Clark said. “I think that we’re treading in dangerous water here.”

Rep. Albert Olszewski, R-Kalispell, said his concerns were about public safety, and said pasteurization is one of the most important processes invented to keep people safe.

“People do die from eating food,” Olszewski said.

Rep. Bill Harris, R-Winnett, doubted the dangers of allowing people to drink raw milk, noting that many people already do drink raw milk.

Other supporters of the bill responded with arguments based on liberty, and allowing people to make their own choices.

The House endorsed the bill on a 66-34 vote.

The hearing on House Bill 2, the major state funding bill, opened late last week.

The battle pits the budget the governor proposed before the session with what’s left of his requests after five appropriations subcommittees examined each section.

The Republican-crafted House Bill 2 is about $160 million less than the governor’s proposal.

Some of the cuts discussed late last week included removing funding for Gov. Bullock’s airplane.

Republicans who decided to cut the funding said he had overused the plane, making short flights in instances when driving might have been a better option.

Another cut discussed last week was a $200,000 biennial cut to the Commissioner of Political Practices budget. This cut would remove a full-time prosecutor from their office, which commissioner Jonathan Motl said helped his office enforce complaints filed against electoral candidates.

Action on the bill is expected to begin next week.