{"id":15942,"date":"2017-01-26T20:41:40","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T03:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=15942"},"modified":"2017-01-26T20:42:38","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T03:42:38","slug":"legislative-update-thursday-jan-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2017\/01\/legislative-update-thursday-jan-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislative Update: Thursday, Jan. 26"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Guns\"<\/a>

Freddy Monares\/UM Community News Service<\/p>

A sign on a door at the state Capitol prohibits the carrying of firearms.<\/p><\/div>\n

Bill \u00a0would let\u00a0lawmakers pack heat in Capitol<\/h4>\n

By Cole Grant<\/h6>\n

HELENA \u2014\u00a0House Bill 280<\/a> would allow lawmakers to carry handguns on state property, including in the Capitol during the Legislature.<\/p>\n

Rep. \u00a0Randy Brodehl, R-Kalispell, said he would support allowing anyone who qualifies for open and concealed carry to have guns on state property, but that\u00a0getting support for that broad a bill would be unlikely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing that we need to do is start with who is the most vulnerable,” he said. “And in the Capitol, I think legislators are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don Jones of MEA-MFT, a labor union representing public employees, said the bill could make the Capitol unwelcoming to visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t do anything to discourage and create some sort of fear with the rest of the public who want to come here and talk to you about issues that they know you might have disagreements with them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, 18 state Capitols allow some form of legal firearm carry.<\/p>\n

HB 280 was heard Thursday morning in the House Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

Cole Grant is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Greater Montana Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Doctor-selection for injured workers at issue<\/h4>\n
By Freddy Monares<\/h6>\n

Montana Lawmakers will be considering a bill that would reinstate the ability of\u00a0people injured in worker\u2019s compensation cases to pick their own doctors.<\/p>\n

House Bill 229<\/a> would reverse a 2011 law, which gave the responsibility of finding a healthcare provider to insurance companies and employers.<\/p>\n

Rep. Andrea Olsen, D-Missoula, is the sponsor of the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to say what doctor and what treatment I can receive is not in the best interest of myself,” she said. “It\u2019s not in the best interest of anyone who is attempting to heal from an injury or an illness.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says the whole goal of medical treatment “is\u00a0to afford a person the ability to get well, to recover from an injury.\u201d Olsen said.<\/p>\n

The House Business and Labor committee will hear the bill Friday.<\/p>\n

Freddy Monares is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Greater Montana Foundation.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill \u00a0would let\u00a0lawmakers pack heat in Capitol By Cole Grant HELENA \u2014\u00a0House Bill 280 would allow lawmakers to carry handguns on state property, including in the Capitol during the Legislature. Rep. \u00a0Randy Brodehl, R-Kalispell, said he would support allowing anyone who qualifies for open and concealed carry to have guns on state property, but that\u00a0getting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":15943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[1122],"class_list":["post-15942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-montana-legislature","prominence-category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}