Legislature

Lawmakers in Helena will consider a bill that would keep children under the age of 18 from using tanning beds. Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings, who’s carrying Senate Bill 133, says he feels strongly enough about a rise of skin cancer cases that people need to stop and look at tanning bed use, and he said his bill could help with that.

Some e-cigarette users in Montana say Senate Bill 147’s inclusion of electronic cigarettes and vaping products in the list of prohibited tobacco items in the Clean Indoor Air Act is a step backward for them.

A bill in the Montana House would get rid of the Office of the Commissioner of Political Practices and split the duties between two elected officials - the attorney general and secretary of state - rather than one appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

Gov. Steve Bullock has vetoed the first bill of the Montana legislative session: House Bill 1, which would have increased legislators' pay by 14 percent for the next legislative session.

Montana lawmakers are considering a bill that would make strangulation of a family member or partner a felony. “I think that in domestic violence, there’s always this issue of intimacy, and it’s very hard to prosecute these cases,” said Sen. Margie MacDonald, D-Billings, who is sponsoring Senate Bill 153.

The chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes praised Montana legislators, and all citizens of the state, on Wednesday for not falling into the discord and disrespect so evident in national politics.

State Sen. Doug Kary, R-Helena, admits that he and other lawmakers have broken the law when filing campaign finance reports. That’s because current statute does not allow lawmakers to include their filing fees in campaign finance reports. Senate Bill 3 would change all that.

The House Taxation Committee will hear a bill Wednesday that would raise taxes for Montanans making more than $400,000 a year in taxable income.

Senate majority leader Fred Thomas doesn't just want to correct the effective date of Montana's recently approved medical marijuana initiative. He also wants to admonish the Helena District Court judge who made the same correction in a December ruling.

Montana teachers who are certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards now receive a one-time $3,000 stipend, but lawmakers are considering a bill that would make that payment annual. Senate Bill 115 would also double the stipend if the teacher works in a high poverty level school, or one that’s affected by a “critical quality educator shortage.”