Latest news with #HB252
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kinship caregiver support pilot program heads to the House floor
A 5-year-old girl plays on a climbing wall at a playground in Illinois in 2023. Over the past decade, states have worked steadily to recognize the roles of grandparents and other extended loved ones, now known collectively as kinship caregivers, in raising children who otherwise might be in foster care. (Photo by Scott Olson / Getty Images) An estimated 40,000 New Mexico children were raised by grandparents, next-of-kin or family friends in 2024, according to the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department, which cites parental substance abuse disorders as the primary reason. House Bill 252, sponsored by 24 lawmakers and carried by Rep. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo), would create a three-year Kinship Caregiver Support Pilot Program to assist kinship caregivers in navigating the legal system and other supportive services they may not know are available to them. The bill unanimously passed the House Appropriations and Finance Committee Monday. It previously passed the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee and will now head to the floor for a full House vote. The bill identifies Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Taos, McKinley and Doña Ana counties as locations for the program. Fifty participants in each community who are grandparents, next-of-kin or close family friends, known as fictive kin, who are raising children will find help through legal services, public assistance and economic support. The program would be operated out of the Aging and Long-Term Services Department and receive a $4.5 million general fund appropriation. 'You see statistically that grandchildren do better when they're with their family. Children do better when they're with kin verses in the foster system, and that's exactly what this bill is going to help do,' Rep. Michelle Abeyta (D-To'hajilee) told committee members, adding that she went through a similar situation herself as a child when her grandmother sought guardianship of her. If passed and signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, HB252 would go into effect immediately and require annual reports assessing the program. Herrera told committee members Monday that the program is ultimately intended to help caregivers 'navigate through the programs we have in place at the federal, state and local level.' 'When you have this problem before you, you don't know what you don't know,' Herrera said. 'The aging department would help people kind of learn about what's available to them.' According to the bill's fiscal impact report, the Aging and Long-Term Services Department reports that the estimated number of New Mexico children under kinship care grew by 10,000 children between 2017 and 2024 and is much higher than the national average. The report also notes that over a quarter of grandparents raising their grandchildren in 2022 lived in poverty. Herrera said she envisions the program growing to include more counties and communities in the state, but for now she is limited to the five counties where nonprofit organizations or foundations have agreed to join as program partners. She added that she chose the aging department rather than the Children, Youth and Families Department to administer the program because grandparents are more comfortable with senior centers. She noted a negative perception people have of CYFD, which oversees the state's foster care system. CYFD and the Human Services Department were sued in 2018 based on claims that children in New Mexico's welfare system were not receiving behavioral health services and appropriate foster placements. The parties entered into a settlement, known as the Kevin S. Settlement, in 2020 and the case was dismissed. The settlement agreement involves a change in department policies, oversight and data collection. Several proposals at this year's Legislature seek to reform the department. 'We chose aging because people don't trust CYFD. Grandparents don't want to go to CYFD,' Herrera said. 'We wanted a place where grandparents felt safe.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill banning hormone therapy for transgender inmates heads to governor's desk
The Utah State Correctional Facility is pictured from a 'free speech zone' set up about two miles from the facility in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024 as the state prepared to execute death row inmate Taberon Honie just after midnight. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) The Utah Legislature gave final passage on Thursday to a bill that would restrict certain treatments for transgender inmates in the state's prisons, jails and juvenile detention facilities. Sponsored by House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, HB252 passed the Senate Thursday and is headed to the governor's desk. It passed along party lines in both the House and Senate, with Democrats in opposition. The bill would require all minors in a detention center to be housed in accordance to their sex assigned at birth, while prohibiting the use of puberty blockers. It also prevents sexual relations between staff and people housed in juvenile detention centers (people up to 25 years old are sometimes housed in these centers). And, the bill prevents the state's county jails and two prisons from administering 'cross-sex hormone treatment' and any kind of gender-affirming surgeries for adult inmates. People who started treatment before incarceration would be allowed to continue it. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Elective and cosmetic surgeries are already unavailable to inmates in the two state prisons, the Utah Department of Corrections confirmed to Utah News Dispatch on Thursday. According to data from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees health care in the state's two prisons, there are currently 33 Utah inmates receiving hormone replacement therapy — 29 transitioned from male to female, and the remaining four transitioned from female to male. Of those 33, seven were receiving hormone replacement therapy at the time of their incarceration. The remaining 26 requested the treatment while in prison. Had Lisonbee's bill been in place prior to their incarceration, they wouldn't have been able to receive treatment. The legislation is not retroactive. Lisonbee's law is part of a national movement imposing restrictions on transgender inmates. On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled 'Defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government' that, among other things, required federal agencies to house inmates in accordance with their biological sex. 'When we have people in custody, whether that's in adult custody or youth custody, a lot of parts of their lives are under restriction. It's a different environment. They can't drive, they can't decide where they live, they can't leave the premises,' said Sen. Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, who sponsored the bill in the Senate. 'It's a highly structured society.' Bill to restrict transgender students in Utah college dorms heads to Gov. Cox But opponents to the bill cited safety concerns, specifically around housing. 'Being a teenager is hard enough; being a teenager in secure care is a particularly precarious situation,' said Rep. Grant Miller, a Salt Lake Democrat and public defender. 'I can only imagine the difficulties, for example, of a trans female minor being housed with young males. I think that presents a meaningful safety issue.' Miller also had concerns that the bill could spur a lawsuit over lack of access to health care. HB252 is the latest bill passed by lawmakers that deals with transgender Utahns — Cox recently signed HB269, which restricts where transgender college students can and can't live in public universities. During previous sessions, lawmakers have passed laws banning access to gender-affirming care for minors, dictating what bathrooms transgender people can use in government buildings, and preventing transgender teens from playing girls sports. 'I hope we're about done with bills in this body that target this population,' said Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, before she voted 'no' on the bill Thursday. While the state does not allow any kind of cosmetic or elective surgeries for inmates, it does have a policy for them to receive hormone replacement therapy. Per the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, those inmates undergo a lengthy screening and evaluation from nurses, a mental health therapist, a psychologist, and possibly more health care professionals. CONTACT US The review considers the medical, mental health and security risks or benefits to the inmate — prior to the initiation of treatment, the inmate is required to participate in group therapy for at least one year 'in an attempt to effectively treat the symptoms of Gender Dysphoria,' the policy states. For their first year of treatment, the inmate undergoes a re-evaluation every 90 days. After that, they get a re-evaluation every 180 days. The treatment can also be discontinued, according to department policy, if the individual isn't compliant with recommended mental health treatment, or a health care professional decides they no longer meet the criteria. That policy was the subject of a lawsuit earlier this year, when former President Joe Biden's Department of Justice found the Utah Department of Corrections had 'imposed unnecessary barriers to treatment for gender dysphoria' on an inmate. That lawsuit was dismissed in January, according to court records. 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Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bills to boost starting teacher pay, offer ‘school choice,' both advance in House
Photo illustration by Getty Images. The Montana House advanced a couple of significant education proposals this week including a bill to increase starting teacher pay and one to support children in private school. One bill passed with significant support, one by a hair. But both bills garnered criticism from legislators during debate and will need to withstand scrutiny in appropriations and another vote on the floor to move to the Senate. House Bill 252, to increase starting teacher pay, passed 93-7 with bipartisan support. House Bill 320, to provide support for 'school choice,' passed 51-48. Sponsored by Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, HB 252 provides incentives for academic achievement and offers other support for educators, such as tools districts can use for housing in areas of high cost, in addition to starting teacher pay. The STARS Act, the Student and Teacher Advancement for Results and Success, is supported by the Governor's Office, and Jones said it was designed with input from communities and education groups. 'It's had a lot of collaboration across the state,' Jones said. Previous legislation to try to boost starting teacher pay didn't lead to desired results, and Rep. Jane Gillette, R-Three Forks, wanted to know if HB 252 would be different. 'Why would this bill help schools retain new teachers better than the one that we passed?' Gillette said. Jones said the amount of money wasn't enough to encourage districts to participate before, but the proof of concept worked. He said at least one district is already negotiating based on the bill, and it puts sufficient money into the program, $50 million as opposed to a couple million. Rep. Luke Muszkiewicz, D-Helena, said he's a former trustee and supports the bill, but he would be remiss in not pointing out its shortcomings. He said many people feel it won't help school districts retain more experienced teachers, who help mentor newer teachers, and school districts still face an inflation gap of $92.5 million. 'While the STARS Act represents a significant ongoing investment, it will not serve as the leap forward we would hope if it doesn't at least close that inflation gap,' Muszkiewicz said. *** HB 320, Montana's Academic Prosperity Program for Scholars, or MAPPS, is a program to help families afford to send their children to private schools, said sponsor Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel. It offers donors and families a tax credit. Deming said the bill was amended in committee to set a $10 million aggregate ceiling limit for parents buying 'qualified' education expenses, and the same ceiling for donations to the MAPPS account. An escalator clause allows the ceilings to lift up to that point, but only if both sides hit 80% of their limits. Before the bill was amended, critics said the credits in it and another existing education credit had the potential to cost the state $100 million in revenue within a decade, and cost remained a concern on the House floor. The bill passed on second reading by one vote but drew bipartisan opposition. Legislators questioned cost and a lack of accountability. Rep. Sherry Essmann, R-Billings, raised numerous concerns, including that a program manager wouldn't get a job review for five years. 'How many of us had jobs where we could work … for five years before we got a job performance review? That is totally out of line,' Essmann said. Deming countered that the bill provides for termination. Essmann also said the types of things for which parents can claim a credit are broad, and they're things parents of students who go to public schools cannot claim — 'they just have to pay for them.' Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula, also said he saw multiple problems with the bill, including that it could cost the state more money every year with the 20% escalator. A fiscal analysis estimates it's projected to cost the state nearly $12 million by 2029. 'You can see that over time, this could be a runaway freight train in terms of cost,' Thane said. Thane, a former superintendent, also said a savvy accountant could help a client avoid paying income taxes, for example, with a $200,000 donation that credits a corporation or individual with $65,000 during the span of three years. 'For the next three years, I can zero out the bottom line of my Montana state income tax return with this credit,' Thane said. 'That means those individuals or those corporations will not contribute to any state initiatives or state programs during that three-year period.' But in favor of the bill, Rep. Terry Falk, R-Kalispell, said he views the 'value proposition' in the bill similar to the way he sees money that goes to fight crime or build roads — 'I think school choice, universal school choice, is right there.' Children who aren't in public schools also save taxpayers costly infrastructure, he said, and he believes the time has come for the 'school choice' legislation. 'School choice is a necessary, reasonable need in our American society,' Falk said. Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, R-Billings, said families are wondering how to pay the bills with the economy. She said Montana is funding public education at a high rate, and legislators shouldn't be afraid to do the same for families who want something different. 'They also want to have the opportunity to put their kids through private school,' Seekins-Crowe said.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah House passes bill on transgender inmate regulations
A bill regarding transgender inmates was considered and passed 60-14 in the House general session on Monday. HB252's purpose centers around three main actions, the bill's sponsor, Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, said during the meeting. First, there is currently no law in Utah that prohibits juvenile detention center staff from engaging in a sexual relationship with a person in juvenile custody up to a certain age. A person can be in juvenile custody as old as 25 in the state, and it isn't a crime for such relations to occur from 21 to 25. This bill would change that. 'I think we can all agree that that kind of relationship is inappropriate in an incarcerated setting,' Lisonbee said. Second, the bill would require inmates to be assigned housing based on their biological sex, which may not match what they identify as. Both Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, and Rep. Grant Amjad Miller, D-Salt Lake City, voiced concern with a part of the bill. 'I could only imagine the difficulties of someone, say, a trans female juvenile, being placed in secure care in a cell or closed rooms with other biological boys. At such a tender age, I think that it's a safety issue. I think the top two concerns we should have are safety of the child and best interest of the child,' Miller said, stating those were the reasons he was opposing the bill. Romero asked Lisonbee directly if this bill would cause potential harm to transgender inmates by putting them in housing where they don't identify. Lisonbee said there is language in the bill to protect both inmates and staff, but that 'there is a strict and fast line for housing with a member of the opposite biological sex, and that is not allowed under the bill.' 'It's common sense legislation that permits safety, security and privacy for juvenile detainees and will also support the smooth operations of JJYS (Juvenile Justice and Youth Services) facility,' Lisonbee said. HB252 echoes President Donald Trump's executive order: 'Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.' The order effectively bars men who self-identify as women from residing in women's spaces and prohibits the use of federal funds for any medical procedures, treatments or medications intended to alter an inmate's appearance to match that of the opposite sex. Following Trump's order, The New York Times reported that 'there are about 1,500 federal prisoners who are transgender women. ... But they represent an outsize portion of federal inmates, especially among female prisoners: 15 percent of women in prison are transgender. There are 750 transgender men out of about 144,000 male prisoners.' The third action in Lisonbee's bill would deny inmates the ability to initiate transitioning procedures, whether it be cross-sex hormone treatment, sex characteristic surgeries or puberty blockers, while under state supervision. Rep. Nicholeen P. Peck, R-Tooele, voiced her support for this bill due to her firsthand experience dealing with youth in the legal system, including some who she said identified as LGBT. 'I know that when they are coming to a facility to get help for drug treatment or maybe even some mental care, those types of things, it really is a distraction to be focusing on other issues, such as gender procedures and those types of things,' she said. 'Really, the best thing that you can do is face the problem that they're there for, and it's not for that. And so I like how this streamlines the care of a child and would make sure that they're in a good mental state before they make those types of decisions.' Rep. Troy Shelley, R-Ephraim, added that courts across the state of Utah are all over the place regarding rulings that surround the language of HB252 and that 'our responsibility as lawmakers is to clarify for the courts what they can act on,' he said in support of the bill. Following discussion of the bill and prior to the House vote, Lisonbee reiterated that the Department of Correction has done more in recent years to prioritize its attention on helping inmates across the state succeed following their time in detention. 'We want to help inmates at prison and county jails and at (Juvenile Justice and Youth Services), to address their medical needs, overcome addictions and obtain mental health treatment. That is the focus of this bill,' she said. 'But at the same time, a correctional facility is not a place for an individual to make long, lasting and life-changing medical decisions, especially when we consider that those would be made at taxpayer expense. So for all of those reasons and more, HB252 directs DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) county sheriffs and state corrections to provide inmates with gender dysphoria and any co-occurring mental health disorders with access to psychotherapy, mental health care, (and) other necessary and appropriate treatments.' Two weeks ago, HB252 passed the House Judiciary Committee. Now that the House has further greenlit it, the bill will be sent to the Senate for further consideration.
