For the legislative week ending March 6

Date: March 06, 2015

It was a short week at the Montana Legislature. Lawmakers didn’t return to their duties until Thursday morning, after a five-day, interim break. Now any non-revenue bill that did not transmit to the other house is dead.
Legislators were quick to get down to work, however, with some important hearings held both Thursday and Friday.
Liability Waivers
 
House Bill 204 by Rep. Greg Hertz (R) of Polson was heard Thursday morning in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill would allow liability waivers and releases to be admitted into court hearings as evidence of a principal’s liability in sports and recreation settings. Currently, many businesses use liability waivers before entering into sports or recreational activities, but they are not allowed to be used in a courtroom hearing to assist the principal in proving liability. The hearing mentioned many small businesses that need this law, including dude ranches, backcountry guides and outfitters, zip line operators, and even group sporting events like baseball, YMCA basketball tournaments, and school sporting events. 
This bill passed the House in early February 69-31 and transmitted to the Senate. NFIB/Montana supported HB 204.
      
Veterans’ Hiring
      
On Friday, NFIB/Montana lobbied two bills of interest. The first was Senate Bill 196 by Sen. Mary Cafarro (D) of Helena. This bill would allow small employers to have a priority policy in place to hire veterans, without violating local or state equal opportunity laws. 
Medicaid Expansion 
The second hearing on Friday was on House Bill 249. This was Gov. Steve Bullock’s Medicaid expansion bill. It would expand Medicaid to some 70,000 low-income people. Medicaid is the health insurance program for lower-income folks. The cost was estimated at $511 million per year by 2019. The federal government would pay all the cost for the first two years, and then it would cover 90 percent of the cost by 2020. The state would cover the difference. 
NFIB/Montana asked for a position on this issue in its 2015 state ballot. The results were loud and clear, when 70 percent of its members voted no, 18 percent voted yes, and 12 percent voted undecided. 
The hearing started at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon, and it ended at 10 p.m. Friday night. More than 250 people appeared as proponents for House Bill 249, ranging from hospitals, health-care providers, Indian tribes, religious sects, and an array of individuals with disabilities and illnesses that currently do not qualify for the regular Medicaid program. 
NFIB/Montana’s argument against passage of this bill centered on the potential cost down the road, if the federal government didn’t own up to its promise of covering 90 percent of the cost. House Bill 249 did have a clause in it that said if the federal government did not cover 90 percent, that the Medicaid expansion program fostered by HB 249 could be eliminated. 
NFIB/Montana testified that cutting off 70,000 people from an established health care program sometime in the future would never happen in the reality of politics today. Rep Nancy Balance (R) of Hamilton, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, testified against HB 249. She is also the sponsor of a Republican bill that aims to counter the governor’s bill in expanding Medicaid. That bill has yet to see the light of day.
After the seven-hour hearing in the Capitol, the House Human Services Committee voted 10 to 7 a “do not pass” on HB 249. 
Upcoming Hearings
Patent Trolls
Senate Bill 39 would prohibit “trolling for patent and copyright violations” schemes. This bill is at the request of  the Attorney General Tim Fox. It has come to light in Montana that there are groups nationwide that buy up old or unused patents and/or copyrights and then contact small businesses that they are violating their patents or copyrights and threaten court action, if the small-business owner doesn’t pay a fee to use that copyright or patent. 
The whole thing is a scam, according to the attorney general. Small employers often pay the small fee to avoid court action or larger attorney fees to fight the scam. The people who do this “trolling” do not go after larger businesses that have assets or in-house legal departments. They go after the small businesses. Montana has already been hit numerous times with this scam. SB 39 would prohibit such activity. NFIB/Montana is supporting SB 398. The hearing on this bill is Monday in the House Judiciary Committee. It passed the Senate 46-1.
Rules and Regulations
Another priority of NFIB/Montana is House Bill 396 by Rep. Don Jones (R) of Billings. This would take the sunset clause off a bill that was passed in 2013 that requires state agencies to consider the impact to small businesses under 50 employees when making administrative rules. The hearing is in Senate Business Committee on Monday. It has already cleared the House 99-1.
      
Small Business Health Insurance
A new Insure Montana bill, Senate Bill 99, will be considered on Tuesday. This is the small business health insurance program that was started in 2006 for businesses between two and nine employees and subsidized by a tax on tobacco. There are currently over 1,700 small employers in Montana that utilize Insure Montana for their health insurance. The current Affordable Care Act (ACA) will eventually eliminate the Insure Montana program, and the sponsor, Sen. Jill Cohenour (D) of Helena, has drafted a bill to replace Insure Montana with something that would pass muster with ACA. The current program has over 3,800 small business employees and families covered with the current program. 
Employee Passwords
And, finally, there will be a hearing on House Bill 343 on Thursday in Senate Business. This bill, by Rep. Bryce Bennett (D) of Missoula, would prohibit employers from asking for passwords and domain names from employees or job applicants on personal, on-line programs. This bill passed the House earlier in February 89-11. NFIB/Montana is monitoring HB 343.
      
Governor Vetoes Tax Cut
One piece of bad news was on House Bill 166. Rep. Keith Regier (R) of Kalispell successfully shepherded a bill that cut the individual income tax rates by two-tenths of a percent through the Legislature. HB 166 was vetoed by Governor Bullock on Friday. NFIB/Montana supported this bill. It passed the House 58-39 and passed the Senate 29-21 along party lines. 
      
Getting Involved
Getting involved in the 2015 Legislature is easy. The best way to have your voice heard quickly is to phone 406-444-4800. Operators are on hand in the Capitol Building to take messages up to five legislators for each call, and delivery is within a half an hour. For those wanting more information on locating legislators, getting an e-mail address, looking to view committee meetings and floor sessions on television or over computers, and just to review all hearings and reading of the actual bills can go to www.leg.mt.gov and access everything electronically.
      
Past Reports
      

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