The Montana Legislative Session is Complete

The legislature adjourned on April 30. While Montanans went into the session expecting Medicaid expansion to be the main issue, the 69th legislature was anything but expected. With unlikely political alliances, the sudden departure of key legislators, and a record number of bills, many characterized the session as chaotic. For the American Heart Association, the chaos mainly came from the high number of tobacco bills we defended against, including a prevention program funding cut and a proposed tax cut.

In a dramatic turn of events, Senate Bill 150 narrowly passed a key vote in the House. This bill would have allowed for the establishment of cigar rooms in bars and left gaping holes in the Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA). Due to the support of advocates and partners of the American Heart Association across the state, we successfully killed the bill on its final vote in the House.

Our organization and its partners chose to go on the offense as well, successfully advocating for the addition of e-cigarettes to the Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA). On May 8, the governor signed Senate Bill 390, making it official.

We also saw a BIG win for student athletes during this session. The governor signed House Bill 869, a bill that requires all schools with athletic programs to put together Cardiac Emergency Response Plans (CERPs) and have Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) available at all school athletic events and practices. The bill also appropriated funds to help schools purchase AEDs.

Several of the Association’s key priorities, are still awaiting the governor’s signature:

· House Bill 551 expands free school meals to more low-income students.

· House Bill 2 is a budget bill which includes Summer EBT and increased funding for tobacco use prevention.

It was a whirlwind of a legislative session and we couldn’t have done it without your help.