Week 6 at the State Capital
HB 161, sponsored by Speaker of the House Mike Milburn, passed 2nd reading in the Montana House of Representatives this past week with 63 out of 100 House members voting for repeal.
The current Montana law stipulates that medical marijuana can only be used by those with debilitating conditions and those suffering from chronic pain, yet the highest demographic of medical marijuana cardholders are currently between the ages of 21 and 30. Montana now ranks second in the nation for highest per capita usage of marijuana by teens. Less than 2% of users are over 70 years old and one in ten Montanans who are on probation or parole possess a card.
According to the Department of Justice, the DEA has labeled Montana a “source country” due to the prevalence of readily available marijuana. 28,000 people in the state have medical marijuana cards, with over 1,000 signing up in the last month alone.
While I believe that the decision to prescribe medical marijuana for the conditions the citizen’s initiative allowed should be made between a patient and their physician, I could not ignore the statistics that indicate that this initiative was used to circumvent the law for those who wanted to utilize it for recreational use
and for others to make a profit from diverting it to other states and countries illegally.
HB 309 addresses private ditches used for irrigation and is sponsored by Representative Jeff Welborn of Dillon. It passed the House on Friday. While there is a great deal of misinformation about this bill, all this bill does is state that public stream access laws do not apply to private irrigation ditches.
On Wednesday, Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a comprehensive workers’ compensation reform bill guaranteed by the non-partisan NCCI to reduce the cost of doing business in Montana. The bill passed with all present House Republicans supporting the plan. No other current workers’ compensation bill has guaranteed savings. With 20% to 44% guaranteed savings in the first year alone, HB 334 will bring more employers and jobs to Montana and it was my honor to vote in favor of this bill on the House floor.
I strongly encourage the Governor to sign this bill into law after it passesthrough the Senate. It will give small businesses the resources they need to expand their businesses and hire more workers. While it might not be getting a
lot of press in the media, it is a major jobs bill our House majority is proud to support.
A bill sponsored by the good Representative Pat Ingraham, whose family values I respect and generally agree with, to require a woman to have an ultrasound prior to an abortion was something that I, in good conscience, could not support. We went to the legislature with the intention of keeping government intrusion out of our lives and decreasing the cost of health care. I believe that this bill, by mandating a procedure that a person did not want nor medically require, did the opposite and therefore voted against it.
There have been several of these types of bills introduced that conflict with principles I believe in and campaigned on. It is easy for someone to take one piece of a bill and say I am not honoring my word, but I must consider the whole bill before I make what can be a very difficult decision. I especially thank my constituents who, even thoughI may not be able to support a bill they are passionate about, instead of questioning my morals, integrity and honor, instead respond with respect for my position.
On a lighter note, I am looking forward to the Legislative Spouses Valentine’s Day Cookie Sale. This is a fundraiser that my wife Vicky has been involved in the last four sessions and the money raised helps fund improvements at the Capital. It also helps sweeten up all of our dispositions.