Education

died · Montana · House May 20, 2025

HB 445: Revise laws to promote the teaching of cursive writing in schools

HB 445 aimed to revise the legislative goals for public education in Montana. The bill sought to encourage public elementary and secondary schools to provide instruction in reading and writing cursive handwriting to all students. This instruction was intended to develop cognitive and fine motor skills and ensure students could read original historical documents, such as the United States Constitution. It would have amended current law to incorporate this as an explicit goal for the state's public school system.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationBill mandates cursive instruction to develop cognitive skills and historical literacy, advancing curriculum standards per legislative goals.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Education

Track

died · Montana · House May 20, 2025

HB 753: Require human sexuality instruction in public schools to include image of D&E abortion at certain gestational age

HB 753 proposed to revise human sexuality instruction requirements in Montana public schools. The bill mandated that if a school district offers human sexuality instruction, it must include at least one visual image of a dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion performed between 20 and 25 weeks of gestation. This measure would have directly affected public school districts, students enrolled in human sexuality courses, and their parents.

Topics ✗ EducationOpposes EducationMandates specific abortion imagery in human sexuality curriculum, restricting curriculum flexibility and imposing content, aligning with 'restricts curriculum' indicator90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✗ Opposes Education

Track

died · Montana · House May 20, 2025

HB 457: Revise best beginnings eligibility

HB 457 aimed to modify the Best Beginnings Child Care Scholarship Program. It proposed changing the family income eligibility requirement from a minimum of 185% of the federal poverty level to 85% of the state median income for each family size. Additionally, the bill sought to appropriate $17 million annually from the general fund to the Department of Public Health and Human Services for the program for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesBill appropriates $17M annually from general fund to expand child care program, directly funding a public service per appropriations subject.95% confidence ✓ EducationSupports EducationExpands early childhood education access by lowering income eligibility threshold and appropriating $17M annually for child care scholarships, directly increasing funding and accessibility for families.92% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Education

Track

died · Montana · House May 20, 2025

HB 382: Establish the specie legal tender act

The provided bill text, identified as Senate Bill 382, focuses on revising laws related to immunization exemptions, which differs from the title "Establish the specie legal tender act" for HB 382. Based on the provided text, this bill mandates that various entities, including state agencies, schools, child care facilities, and licensed health care providers, must accept religious or informed consent exemptions for required immunizations, injections, or medications for employment or attendance. It establishes that denying such an exemption is an unlawful discriminatory practice. Non-compliant entities could face a loss of state funding, and individuals denied an exemption may file complaints and seek compensatory damages. The bill also clarifies and strengthens the existing provisions for religious, medical, and informed consent exemptions for school attendance.

Topics ✗ EducationOpposes EducationBill mandates acceptance of immunization exemptions for school attendance, weakening health standards required for educational environments.85% confidence ✗ HealthcareOpposes HealthcareBill mandates exemptions for immunizations in healthcare settings, weakening mandatory vaccination requirements and public health initiatives.85% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✗ Opposes Education

Track

signed · Montana · House May 19, 2025

HB 515: Generally revise laws relating to school facilities consolidating two existing state special revenue accounts

HB 515 revises state laws concerning funding for school facilities and technology, directly affecting school districts across the state. The bill consolidates two existing state special revenue accounts and increases the amount and multiplier in the state's major maintenance aid formula. These changes are intended to provide more funding to school districts for significant upkeep projects without impacting property taxpayers. Additionally, it revises statutes related to state school technology payments and allows natural resource development payments to support state major maintenance aid and debt service assistance.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesIncreases school maintenance funding via revised aid formula without raising property taxes, aligns with fiscal responsibility and public service funding.92% confidence ✓ EducationSupports EducationBill increases school facility funding via revised maintenance aid formula, directly supporting K-12 infrastructure improvements without taxpayer impact.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Education

signed · Montana · House May 19, 2025

HB 869: Provide for the sudden cardiac arrest prevention in youth sports

HB 869, titled "Provide for the sudden cardiac arrest prevention in youth sports," establishes measures to prevent sudden cardiac arrest in youth athletes. It requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop informational resources on cardiac arrest symptoms and risks. Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, schools with athletic programs must implement cardiac emergency response plans, including accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and staff training in CPR and AED use. Coaches will be required to be certified in CPR, first aid, and AED use, and hold informational meetings for parents and athletes. The bill also allows coaches or officials to remove athletes exhibiting cardiac arrest symptoms, who then require written medical clearance to return to play, and clarifies that AED purchases are an allowable expenditure for school safety.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationMandates school athletic safety protocols including AEDs and CPR training, enhancing student protection within educational settings per Schools and Education subject.85% confidence ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareRequires schools to implement cardiac emergency response plans with AEDs and CPR training, directly advancing public health safety measures for youth athletes.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Education

signed · Montana · Senate May 16, 2025

SB 350: Revise participation in extracurricular activities

SB 350 revises Montana's education laws concerning extracurricular participation for home school students. The bill allows school districts or athletic organizations to restrict a home school student's ability to participate in extracurricular activities if that student is not a United States citizen or not a resident of Montana. Previously, such restrictions were generally prohibited solely based on the student's home school enrollment. All other existing rules, such as home school students meeting the same participation standards as full-time students, remain in effect.

Topics ✗ EducationOpposes EducationRestricts homeschool students' extracurricular access based on citizenship/residency, limiting educational participation for a specific group.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✗ Opposes Education

signed · Montana · House May 15, 2025

HB 343: Require schools to provide religious instruction released time program

HB 343 requires school districts to establish a program allowing students to be released from regular school attendance for religious instruction, upon written request from a parent or guardian. This program must provide at least one hour of released time per week for religious instruction. The bill also mandates that school districts adopt a policy to award academic credit for completed religious instruction courses. Credit evaluation must be based on secular criteria, such as class hours and course materials, without regard to the religious content. Public school property or funds cannot be used for the religious instruction itself.

Topics ✗ EducationOpposes EducationMandates religious instruction program, restricting secular curriculum options in public schools.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✗ Opposes Education

vetoed · Montana · Senate May 12, 2025

SB 258: Revise school funding laws to clarify the legislature's authority related to inflationary adjustments

SB 258 clarifies the state legislature's authority regarding how public school funding is adjusted for inflation. It amends existing law that outlines how the Superintendent of Public Instruction calculates an annual inflation factor for various school entitlements, which is capped at 3%. This bill explicitly states that the legislature can, through its appropriation and lawmaking authority, provide inflationary adjustments that differ from these standard calculations and may exceed the 3% cap. This affects the financial resources allocated to public schools across the state.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationRemoves 3% cap on inflation adjustments, enabling potential increases in school funding authority per legislative discretion.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Education

Track

signed · Montana · House May 5, 2025

HB 449: Eliminate statutory reference to the adult basic education fund and its distribution

HB 449 is a bill that eliminates the statutory reference to the Adult Basic Education Fund and its distribution within the Montana Code Annotated. It achieves this by repealing section 20-7-712, which outlines this fund and its distribution. This change primarily affects the legal framework governing adult basic education funding in Montana by removing this specific statutory provision, with an effective date of July 1, 2025.

Topics ✗ EducationOpposes EducationBill eliminates statutory reference to Adult Basic Education Fund, removing legal basis for its distribution and effectively defunding adult education programs under education topic.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✗ Opposes Education