Montana's Medicaid expansion program clears major hurdle
Aaron Bolton | Montana Public Radio
A bill that would renew Montana’s Medicaid expansion program passed a major hurdle Friday. The House gave its initial endorsement of the legislation
If lawmakers don’t renew the expansion program, tens of thousands of Montanans could lose health coverage later this year.
Republican Rep. Ed Buttrey of Great Falls told fellow House members that the Medicaid expansion program is key to keeping rural hospitals open and building up Montana’s workforce by providing them with health care.
Other Republicans opposed keeping expansion. They spoke about the cost of the program and worried that work requirements in the bill won’t survive a court challenge. Members voted 63 to 37 in favor of keeping Medicaid expansion.
The bill will need to pass one more vote in the House before moving onto the Senate.
Gov. Gianforte meets with tribal officials to settle law enforcement funding dispute
Aaron Bolton | Montana Public Radio
Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office met with tribal and county officials last week to potentially settle a dispute over law enforcement funding on the Flathead Reservation.
For years, Lake County has sought state funding to cover its costs for enforcing and prosecuting felonies on the reservation. It’s exercised that authority under a decades-old agreement with the state and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
The county is once again backing legislation that would fund its law enforcement services for tribal members, but commissioner Gale Decker says this time is different.
“The county is saying fund us until the state can retrocede and the feds can come in and take it over," he says.
That bill would give the county a little more than half of what it says it costs to police the reservation over the next two years.
The state intends to pull out of the law enforcement agreement, known as public law 280, but the timeline is unknown. Gianforte’s office did not respond to a request for comment about what was discussed at the meeting.
If both the county and state pull out, it will be left up to the tribes and the federal government to provide law enforcement. The tribes have taken over more felony cases, but it’s unclear if they are able to take every case. Federal officials have long said they do not have the resources spare for the reservation.
