Mitchell ready for session

The 2023 legislative session is shaping up to deliver on the Montana Values that House District 3 voters overwhelming endorsed in November.

I have introduced legislation to authorize a State Veterans’ Cemetery in Columbia Falls, adjacent to the State Veterans’ Home Cemetery. The committee hearing is this week and the Governor is anxiously waiting to sign it. This week I am also sponsoring a bill to provide an electronic tagging option for any species that currently requires a tag.

Montana is one of a few states which does not mandate financial literacy for its students. My top priority is ensuring our high school students have the financial literacy skills they need to succeed in life. I have been working with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elsie Arntzen, and her team at OPI to develop an effective curriculum for a semester-long class. This will include basics such as an understanding of a credit report, how to manage debt, and disputing a financial transaction. Especially in this economy, this legislation could not be more timely.

It is heartbreaking for Montana families to lose a child at any age before birth. This is why I have also introduced legislation to provide for a certificate of non-viable birth. Offering this will help provide a degree of closure for those who have lost their child in the middle of a pregnancy. It is my hope this will prove to be a non-controversial piece of legislation, as it has passed unanimously in other states.

In addition to sponsoring these important bills, I will be sponsoring and co-sponsoring many other landmark bills in the next few months and will keep you updated throughout the session.

This is going to be a historic session. We have Republican supermajorities in both chambers, and I am grateful for another opportunity to serve northwest Montana in the Montana House of Representatives.

Braxton Mitchell

House District 3

Columbia Falls