Week 12: Legislative Session Update
For too long, the State of Montana has used our prison system to address upstream problems like poverty, mental health, and substance use. Unfortunately, this trend has continued during the 69th Legislative Session.
In House Appropriations this week, they'll be considering HB 833, which appropriates more than $250 million towards the construction and operation of an additional state prison. If the funds aren't used towards a new facility, the money will go towards expanding access to prison beds -- including through contracts with private corporations.
In Senate Judiciary this week, they'll be considering HB 642 and HB 578. HB 642 would make survival campaign by unhoused folks a state-level offense punishable by a fine of up to $500 each day and HB 578 would remove the requirement that a judge consider an offender's financial resources and ability to pay when ordering what they pay in restitution. These bills perpetuate and deepen the cycle of poverty.
We all want to feel safe in our communities, but we know that expensive, punitive measures like incarceration and fines don’t work to improve public safety. The reality is Montanans are facing an affordability crisis and a substance use crisis at unprecedented levels. Rather than invest our tax dollars in more jail beds and the enforcement of unjust fines, the state should be investing in community-based behavioral health programs, education, affordable housing, and job training.
There is some good news! Criminal Legal Reform champion, Representative James Reavis, has introduced HJ 23, a bill that would designate an interim committee to revise the Montana Youth Court Act, which has become increasingly complex since its adoption in 1947. We're especially glad to see that the bill places special emphasis not increasing youth punishment and instead focusing on procedural improvements. This bill will be heard in House Judiciary this week!
We know that imagining a world without punishment is difficult because our criminal legal system centers punitive measures. If you'd like to better understand what a world with fewer - or without - prisons might look like or you have questions about any of the bills we featured, please reach out to my colleague, Nicole at nicole@catalystmt.org!
Together, we can realize a Montana where there is safety, justice, and dignity for all!
Take Action
It's going to take all of us to create a Montana where there is justice, safety, and dignity for all. This means that we need YOU to take contact your legislator this legislative session.
Call the capitol switchboard at 406-444-4800
The switchboard is open 7 AM to 5:30 PM M-F
State your name, where you're located, and ask to leave a message Supporting / Opposing the bill you want to leave comment on
There's a new system for leaving message to legislators this year that does require you to create an account. You'll need to go to legmt.gov/participate
Be sure to enter in your email address and press verify to get a confirmation code. Note: you will not be able to proceed forward in the form if you do not complete this first step.
To testify virtually, go to legmt.gov/participate. Like submitting a public comment, you will need to create an account first and verify your email.
You will be able to sign up to testify two hours before the hearing.
In your testimony, be sure to say, "Chair and members of the committee, my name is [insert full name and spell out your last name] and I live in [insert place in MT]. I'm here to SUPPORT / OPPOSE [HB/SB #] for [insert your reason]. Close by saying: [Thank you for your time and please vote YES/ NO on this bill.]
Priority Bills
Key: ✅ Support ❌ Oppose 🔵 Tracking
Criminal Legal
❌ House Bill 833, carried by Rep. John Ftizpatrick, would appropriate $253.50 million dollars for construction of an additional state prison and allow for an option to purchase a building and renovate it for correctional capacity. If the money isn't used to build a new prison, it is to be transferred into “Future of Corrections Fund”, which can be used for other agreements to expand prison bed capacity, including with private corporations. This appropriation would also cover operations and maintenance of this new facility as well as an assessment of the current prison system and studying and planning development of a "comprehensive correction system."
Rather than making serious efforts to reduce incarceration by reducing penalties or investing in upstream solutions that contribute to crime, including a serious investment in improving Montana's behavioral health system, this bill would see $253.50 million invested to expand Montana's prison beds-- and once they build more prison space, they will fill it with disproportionately low-income and people of color.
House Bill 833 will be heard in the House Appropriations Committee today, Tuesday, March 25th at 2 PM.Call the House Appropriations Committee and ask them to OPPOSE HB 833.
✅House Joint Resolution 23, carried by Rep. James Reavis, would designate an interim committee to study and propose legislation to simplify and streamline the Montana Youth Court Act, which has become increasingly complex since its adoption in 1947. The bill emphasizes that any proposed changes should remain consistent with the original legislative purposes of the Youth Court Act, should not focus on increasing youth punishment, and should primarily address procedural improvements.
Hundreds of Montana youth are adjudicated through the Youth Court Act every year, and each session new laws are created that impact youth offenders, often unfairly. An interim study would be an opportunity to study ways the Youth Court Act could be improved to better support system-involved youth and treat them more fairly. House Joint Resolution 23 will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, March 26th at 8 AM. Call the House Judiciary Committee and ask them to SUPPORT HJ 23.
❌House Bill 642, carried by Rep. Greg Overstreet, would change the law so that survival camping by unhoused folks that is in violation of local ordinances would now constitute a state-level offense of public nuisance, punishable by a fine of up to $500 for each day the nuisance continues, and with each day to be considered a separate offense.
Unhoused people are already being targeted by towns and cities across Montana despite a lack of affordable housing or shelter beds, and this bill would worsen that by allowing county attorneys to prosecute unhoused people camping in violation of local ordinances even if the localities themselves decline to punish people, and to increase fines on vulnerable folks who already have few means. This bill shows that policymakers continue to try to make it a crime to be poor.
House Bill 642 will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, March 27th at 8 AM. Call the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to OPPOSE HB 642.
❌House Bill 578, carried by Rep. Bill Mercer, removes the requirement that a judge consider an offender's financial resources and ability to pay when ordering that they pay restitution to a victim. The bill also changes the current law which allows for a person to petition for a reconsideration of the amount of restitution immediately and instead would require that they wait a year to make such a request.
This bill would mean that many more people are saddled with high amounts of court debt that they have no reasonable ability to pay. This kind of long-term legal debt destabilizes the lives of low-income people and their families, and, by extension, their communities.
House Bill 578 will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday, March 28th at 8 AM. Call the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to OPPOSE HB 578.
LGBTQ+ Rights
❌Senate Bill 437, carried by Sen. Carl Glimm, is another attempt to define 'sex' in Montana law. SB 437 would legally erase transgender and intersex folks in Montana's legal code. As you may remember, just shy of a month ago, a Montana judge permanently blocked a law passed during the 2023 Legislative Sessions that defined sex as binary. Senate Bill 458 was blocked in June 2024, and Senate Bill 437 is just as unconstitutional. Senate Bill 437 will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee this Wednesday, March 26th at 8 AM. Please testify and contact your Representative to let them know that you OPPOSE SB 437.
If you or someone you know has a story that you'd be interested in sharing with this committee, please reach out to Julia at julia@catalystmt.org.
❌House Bill 682, carried by Rep. Greg Kmetz, would require private, public, and university insurance plans that provide coverage for gender affirming care to also provide coverage for “detransitioning” care. This bill would also do the same thing that SB 218 does, except that it would reduce the statute of limitations from 4 years instead of 25 years. House Bill 682 will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee next Monday, March 31st at 8 AM. Please testify and contact your Senators to let them know that you OPPOSE HB 682.
If you or someone you know has a story that you'd be interested in sharing with this committee, please reach out to Julia at julia@catalystmt.org.
Health Care
❌House Bill 687, carried by Rep. Bill Mercer, would modify the existing Medicaid expanded coverage requirements by raising the upper age limit for required community engagement activities from 55 to 62 years old. Under the current law, Medicaid participants between 19 and 55 years old must complete 80 hours of monthly community engagement activities, which can include employment, workforce training, education, substance abuse treatment, volunteer work, or other approved activities that promote work readiness.
97 percent of folks on Medicaid Expansion are working or have a reasonable limitation as to why they cannot work such as attending school or taking care of a loved one. This bill would threaten the healthcare of thousands on expaneded Medicaid unnecessarily. House Bill 687 will be heard in the Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Safety Committee next Monday, March 31st at 3 PM.
Please testify and contact the Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Safety Committee to let them know that you OPPOSE HB 687. If you or someone you know has a story about being denied a necessary prescription and you're interested in sharing that story, please reach out to Dillon at dillon@catalystmt.org. Here's an additional resource around talking points!
Economic Justice
✅House Bill 843, carried by Rep. SJ Howell, would make $1 million a year available to supplement federal funds to rapidly rehouse folks experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. A key feature of this bill is that it allows funds to be used for rentals of up to %150 of fair market value, which will make these funds more effective at getting people housed.
As more and more communities struggle with housing crises, this bill provides desperately needed funds to get people housed. House Bill 843 will be heard in the House Human Services Committee next Monday, March 31st at 3 PM. Please testify and contact your Representative asking them to SUPPORT HB 843.
✅House Bill 311, carried by Rep.Kelly Kortum, would put up sideboards on the collection of application fees for rental properties. It requires landlords and property managers to refund applciation fees for applications they did not consider and may only keep fees for out of pocket expenses. Application fees have gotten completely out of hand and this bill provides a reasonable compromise for all parties, landlords would be able to cover their out of pocket costs and renters can be confident that their application fees are not being wasted.
House Bill 311 will be heard in the Senate Business and Labor Committee Wednesday, March 26th at 8:30 AM. Please come testify and contact your the Senate Business and Labor Committee asking them to SUPPORT HB 311.
❌Senate Bill 354, carried by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, would seek to prohibit the purchase of soft drinks and candy using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in Montana by requesting a federal waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture. The waiver request must define "soft drinks" as non-alcoholic beverages with sweeteners, (excluding milk-based or high-percentage fruit/vegetable juice drinks) and "candy" as sugar-based confections.
SNAP recipients are no more likely to buy soft drinks or candy than other consumers. This bill would seek to further stigmatize individuals who receive SNAP benefits and limit their autonomy.
Senate Bill 354 will be heard in the House Human Services Committee on Wednesday, March 26th at 3 PM. Please contact your Senator and the House Human Services Committee asking them to OPPOSE SB 354.
