DUIs, e-cigarettes, speed limits and human trafficking
Legislation to address DUIs, prevent minors from purchasing e-cigarettes, increase speed limits on interstate highways and strengthen state laws against human trafficking made progress last week in the Montana Legislature.
• A bill that would double the minimum fines for driving under the influence of alcohol and clarify driving under the influence under marijuana was brought back to the life in the Senate after a 38-12 vote to indefinitely postpone a second reading.
House Bill 488, sponsored by Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, passed in the House by 93-6 on March 26 and passed the Senate for a second reading by 27-23 on April 18.
The bill would levy a $300 fine on anyone believed to be operating a motor vehicle under the influence and who refuses to submit a drug test.
Regier and other supporters are critical of what they call Montana’s lax DUI penalties.
“Minimum fines for DUIs have gone untouched for many years, making Montana one of the least punitive states in the nation on first and subsequent DUIs,” said Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings, who carried the bill in the Senate.
Webb said too many Montana drivers have received five or more DUI convictions, and the stiffer fine would address that.
“Evidently we’re not getting folks’ attention,” he said.
Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte, said the proposed fine for denying an initial drug test was unnecessary and negates people’s right to refuse a breathalyzer test.
“I’m so tired of trying to pick people’s pockets over these bills,” he said.
• A bill prohibiting minors from buying electronic cigarettes passed the House by 72-28 on April 16. Senate Bill 66 passed the Senate by 40-8 on March 6.
Sponsored by Sen. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, SB 66 bans the sale of e-cigarettes to people under 18, aligning the rule with laws for tobacco products. It also defines e-cigarettes as “vapor products” and “alternative nicotine products” instead grouping them with cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and it requires businesses to buy a license to sell them.
The Montana Attorney General’s office requested the bill, which faced some opposition from some House Republicans.
Rep. Nick Schwaderer, R-Superior, who works as a cashier at a pharmacy, said he’d never had minors try to buy the products from him, and that it didn’t make sense to regulate that one activity over others that might be harmful.
“There’s a lot worse stuff kids are getting into that we’re not even dealing with,” he said.
Rep. Jessica Karjala, D-Billings, said some marketing campaigns are clearly geared toward a younger audience.
“These products are being marketed to children,” she said.
The bill is likely headed to the governor’s desk.
• A bill that would increase the speed limit on Montana’s interstate highways from 75 to 80 mph was approved in the House by 56-43 on April 18. The bill passed in the Senate by 28-22 on March 26.
Senate Bill 375, sponsored by Sen. Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, would allow speed limits to be increased by 5 mph in areas deemed safe by the Montana Department of Transportation. At the same time, it would increase the maximum fine for speeding from $100 to $200.
Montana Highway Patrol Chief Tom Butler said the higher fine would bring Montana’s fines within range of its neighboring seven states.
MHP had supported SB 375 and opposed three other bills that would have increased highway speed limits without increasing fines and which died in this legislative session. The higher fine in SB 375 will accrue $100,000 in additional state revenue every year.
• A bill that aimed at halting human trafficking in Montana passed in the Senate by 43-7 on April 17 after passing in the House by 94-3 on March 6.
House Bill 89 was sponsored by Rep. Kim Dudik, D-Missoula, at the request of Montana Attorney General Tim Fox. It would update crimes and penalties for people caught exploiting children involved in the sex trade, adults who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts and anyone compelled into forced labor.
“Human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery, does happen in Montana,” said Sen. Mary Sheehy Moe, D-Great Falls. “After illegal drug trafficking, human trafficking is the second most profitable criminal activity in the world.”
HB 89 would give immunity to child victims, make the past sexual behavior of victims inadmissible in court and allow victims to bring civil action against a trafficker. Victims could also move to have past criminal convictions vacated and would allow prosecutors more latitude in showing a victim was coerced into trafficking. Victims could also get financial assistance through a crime victim compensation fund.
Traffickers could have their property seized. If convicted, their property could be sold, with the proceeds going to the victims compensation fund. HB 89 would also require anyone convicted of human trafficking to register similarly to sex offenders and to undergo testing to determine if they are likely to re-offend.