One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
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The House passed three comprehensive recreational marijuana implementation bills this week. These bills take different approaches to the regulation of recreational marijuana but they all respect the will of voters and ensure proper safeguards are in place. These bills will now go to the Senate, and most likely a conference committee, to decide the safest and most effective way to open the recreational marijuana market in Montana that voters approved. Local control is important and communities will get to decide whether they want sales in their...
Last week, the House passed our main budget bill (House Bill 2) to fund state government for the next two years. It will now go to the Senate for further consideration. As it stands, it is one of the most responsible state budgets that we have seen in recent history and comes in well below the maximum threshold that conservative think-tanks have set for a conservative Montana budget. It adequately funds state government and gives Governor Gianforte the tools that he needs to continue finding efficiencies in state agencies. A leadership...
This past week, the Montana House of Representatives passed both House Bill 652, the Long-Range Bonding bill, and House Bill 658, the Medicaid Expansion bill. The Bonding bill passed the floor with 68 yes votes and 30 no votes, and the Medicaid Expansion bill passed with 61 yes votes and 37 no votes. I opposed House Bill 658, the Medicaid Expansion bill, largely because the non-severability clause in the bill was removed and replaced with a severability clause. This means that if a court finds that any portion of the law is unconstitutional or...
Ballot initiative 185, or I-185, has become quite the hot-button issue this campaign season. I-185 raises the taxes levied on all tobacco products, including raising the cigarette tax to $3.70 per pack, and raising the moist snuff tax to the greater of 83% of the wholesale price or $3.70 per 1.2 ounces. Now, right off the bat, I am not a fan of this initiative for the simple fact that it raises taxes. That fact, however, is far from the only reason I am voting NO on I-185. If a person only reads the language for the ballot initiative, it seems...
It is week five for the Montana Legislature, and I apologize I have not written home earlier in the session. We have passed several good bills through the House, including providing inflationary funding for our public schools, electronic communication privacy, and a few bills that expand our 2nd amendment rights. I had the opportunity to be Chair of the Day yesterday, 2-6-17, which entails running the floor debate for bills up for 2nd reading. It was a great learning experience, and with 13 bills on the docket, there was a lot of learning to...