Eight Republican bills vetoed
Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed eight Republican-sponsored bills on April 27 as the Montana Legislature came to a close last week.
The Democratic governor vetoed a bill to detect welfare fraud, another to expand where and how concealed weapons could be carried and a bill to prohibit the prescribing of abortion drugs without a physician being physically present with the person receiving the prescription.
“As elected officials, we should all be working together to expand access to health-care services in Montana,” Bullock wrote in his veto message of House Bill 587, the abortion-drug bill. “Unfortunately, HB 587 and several other bills proposed this session seek to do just the opposite, particularly for women and families living in the more rural part of our state.”
Bullock’s vetoes essentially killed the bills are dead because the Legislature would need to vote in person to override them, and the legislature adjourned the day after Bullock vetoed the bills. In any event, it’s unlikely any of the vetoes could have been overridden because they would need the support of at least some Democratic legislators.
Other vetoed bills included:
• Senate Bill 148, sponsored by Rep. Cary Smith, R-Billings, to hire a private company to conduct computerized checks of welfare-program eligibility. The company would be allowed to keep a portion of any fraud it uncovers. Bullock said it would duplicate systems the state already has in place to detect levels of fraud that are negligible.
• HB 533, sponsored by Rep. Kirk Wagoner, R-Montana City, would have allowed people to carry concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol and other businesses under certain circumstances. Bullock said the bill “effectively eliminates the requirement to obtain a concealed weapon permit” and that law-enforcement officers had concerns about the bill.
• SB 126, sponsored by Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings, would have allowed landlords to meet notice requirements on evictions by sending an e-mail.
• SB 149, sponsored by Sen. Matt Rosendale, R-Glendive, would have allowed “direct primary care providers plans” in which patients could give prepaid fees to physician for primary care, rather than being billed for each service. Bullock said the plans would provide “little or no added value to most consumers.”
• SB 248, sponsored by Sen. John Brenden, R-Scobey, would have required that anyone providing public comment to a legislator or legislative committee must provide his or her name and city and state of residence.
• SB 276, sponsored by Sen. Webb, would have established a directory of providers of Medicaid-covered personal-care services but prohibit the state from collecting private information on some care workers.
• SB 376, sponsored by Sen. Brenden, would have restricted how state agencies could use “recovered indirect costs.” Bullock said the bill could put state agencies in conflict with federal requirements on these costs and create inequities in pay by forbidding the use of these costs for pay increases or bonuses.