As the Montana 2017 Legislative Session enters what is scheduled to be its final week, eight bills sponsored by local House member Kirk Wagoner, R-Montana City, were finding a high degree of success. Three had already been finalized and will be law, and two more are pending and expected to become law.
Several of Wagoner’s bills dealt with the aftermath of the proposed closure of the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder. Other topics in the bills: death certificate fee distribution; government employee relations with legislators; whistleblowers; concealed carry laws; and telemedicine.
MDC RELATED BILLS Wagoner’s lead bill in reaction to the closure of the MDC, HB 387, took a circuitous route through the legislature but appeared headed for final approval Monday. The bill would extend some operations at the facility up to another two years, establish an intensive behavior center in what has been the ASU, and provide a $500,000 economic development fund for the community of Boulder. (See separate article in this issue.) A bill to monitor the care and welfare of clients transitioning out of the Montana Developmental Center is headed to the governor.
