Friday saw plenty of legislation advancing and dying in the Montana Legislature.Â
Sen. Jeff Welborn said he believed it was long overdue that the board of outfitters see the changes, which he characterized as “common-sense.”
The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission should be expanded from five to seven members with four of the governor appointees required to be landowners working in agriculture, said Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta, on Thursday.
Republicans advanced a pair of bills that would allow private payments to wolf trappers and hunters as well as directing the state to consider more aggressive means of taking the animals.
The bill, brought by Republican Rep. Derek Skees, got its first hearing Thursday in the House State Administration Committee.
The bill cleared a second reading on a 31-19 party-line vote with Republican support and Democratic opposition.
Similar legislation has been vetoed in several previous sessions by Democratic governors, after being passed by Republican-dominated Legislatures.Â
Both bills are amalgamations of other legislation brought earlier in the session.Â
Committee chairman Sen. Keither Regier, R-Kalispell, said he believed the issue was limited geographically and the bill could set a poor precedent.
The bill ultimately failed to clear second reading in the House by a 44-56 vote.
The legislation passed second reading votes on mostly party-line margins.
The bill saw support from a number of parents but significant pushback from the medical community.
In the last two sessions, the same proposal — those iterations brought by Republican lawmakers — met the same fate.Â
Republican Rep. Brad Tschida’s House Bill 240 received initial approval last week on a vote of 52-48.
In a session that’s seen its fair share of hotly debated policy bills, Monday had its own decent load.
The bill is a re-attempt at House Bill 113, which the House voted down in January.Â
Bills to make trapper education mandatory have been debated for 14 years but never made it through the Legislature.
The bill would bar the state from selling any land transferred to it from the federal government.Â
Lawmakers aiming to shape wildlife management in Montana are advancing a number of bills this legislative session that some believe would be better debated by the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission.
“This is to … incentivize the department to relinquish themselves of the Boulder campus,” said Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila.Â
Rep. Llew Jones was careful Friday to note he wasn’t alleging that any fraud occurred during the 2020 vote.
The committee voted to cut all funding for an early childhood education program long touted by the former Democratic governor.
Senate Bill 209 would require all cannabis to be grown indoors, while farmers would continue to grow hemp outdoors.
The Montana House on Thursday gave the initial OK to a bill that would assign the state Supreme Court justices to districts.
-
- Updated
Results from tests Monday show three positives, which include a legislator case previously reported and two members of House staff.