Latest news with #Manzella
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Montana House passes bill to give towing vehicles right-of-way in roundabouts
A Montana Department of Transportation graphic illustrates how to navigate a double roundabout. (Courtesy image) The Montana House unanimously passed a bill addressing how vehicles approach roundabouts on Friday, specifically adding stipulations into the law giving preference for vehicles towing a load. Senate Bill 433, brought by Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, changes regulations for how vehicles approach roundabouts. Hauling vehicles will legally be allowed to deviate from their lane to move through a traffic circle. Other autos in the roundabout must yield to hauling vehicles. Manzella said during a House Transportation Committee hearing on March 21 the legislation stemmed from discussions over a roundabout on Highway 93 at its intersection with Bell Crossing near Victor and subsequent town halls about the topic. 'When you are a tow vehicle pulling a trailer, we feel that that tow vehicle needs to be given the right-of- way,' Manzella said. 'Because of the fact that when you're entering the roundabout, your rear tires don't necessarily track. They want to crowd to the inside.' There's also usually a berm on roundabouts, Manzella said, which can cause whatever's being hauled around to move around. Constituents said this was the problem, and it's also been a complaint from trucking companies across the country. 'For me, it's my horses, which are precious, and I don't dare bludgeon them,' Manzella said. ' …I have had that happen before, where they have injured their pretty little faces, pushing themselves, getting bumped into the trailer wall.' The bill will also have an impact on double-lane roundabouts, which can be used on four-lane highways. It allows trailers to legally deviate from one of the lanes. Manzella's legislation received support from the Montana Department of Transportation, which maintains a database of roundabouts across the state. Roundabouts are generally safer than four-way intersections, as the possibility of T-bone collisions is drastically reduced, according to MDOT. 'Not every intersection demands a roundabout, but for those that do, this is an important tool for us to have in our toolbox, and any effort that we can make to make them safer is a welcome opportunity,' said Larry Flynn, MDOT deputy director during the bill's House hearing. 'I think this is a good, common sense approach to help improve the safety of an already safe tool.' After a final procedural approval in the House, the bill will head to the governor's desk.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill prohibiting religious discrimination in foster care, adoption closer to becoming law
House Bill 655 has the stated intention of 'prohibiting discriminatory action' to potential foster parents or those interested in adoption. (Jordan Hansen / Daily Montanan) For the 21 members of the Senate who voted against House Bill 655, Sen. Theresa Manzella had a very specific message. 'To those of you who are in opposition to it, I'm sorry,' Manzella, a Republican from Hamilton said. 'I wish you knew the Jesus Christ that I know, because he would never abandon, or abuse, or hurt children.' At the heart of a fiery debate on Monday was whether the state's foster care system discounts families with strong religious beliefs. However, other lawmakers worried that foisting strong or different religious beliefs on foster children could create more trauma or instability. The bill was brought by Rep. Greg Oblander, R-Billings, and carried by Manzella, and it seeks to change laws regarding foster care and adoption services. The bill passed a second reading, 29-21. The legislation's stated intention is 'prohibiting discriminatory action' to potential foster parents or those interested in adoption. Proponents of the bill said it would open up more opportunities for children to be fostered or adopted, and the Montana Family Foundation testified some state-sponsored training for foster parents did not fit into some people's religious beliefs. Opponents said it could impress religious beliefs onto adopted and foster children, with references to the country's Native American boarding school era. It drew lengthy and, at times, furious emotional debate. Multiple legislators — including Sens. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, and John Fuller, R-Kalispell — stood to speak on the bill and amendment several times. Windy Boy, a member of the Rocky Boy's Chippewa-Cree tribe, stood three times on the bill itself after speaking during an amendment. Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvary, R-Billings, shut Windy Boy down when he tried to speak on the floor for a third time. Senate rules allowed two opportunities to stand and speak on an item. 'I'm not going to apologize for standing more than twice,' Windy Boy had said moments prior. 'That's what my constituents sent me here to do.' Windy Boy's opposition to the bill included references to religious run boarding schools, one of the darkest periods of American history. Thousands of Indigenous children were sent to Christian-run boarding schools to be 'assimilated' in white culture. More than 3,000 children died at these schools, according to a 2024 report in the Washington Post. The federal government also commissioned a report released in 2024 on boarding schools. Some of those children were sexually abused, including in Montana. 'A lot of those kids had no choices,' Windy Boy said on the floor. 'The parents had no choices. But yet, at the same time, those kids were spanked, they were abused, mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse. Is that the kind of system that we're going to continue pushing into this era? I should hope not.' An amendment from Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, sought to take some of the teeth out of the legislation, removing foster care. Neumann presented it as strictly as a reunification ideal — essentially foster children should be placed in culturally appropriate situations. 'It's taking foster care out just to make sure that birth parents and families, that their beliefs are able to be held intact in case of reunification,' Neumann said. 'I believe everyone here supports reunification of families wherever possible.' Some Senate Republicans appeared to view both the amendment as well as some statements made on the floor to be a full-throated attack on Christianity. 'It's very clear what's going on here,' Fuller said. 'This is a secular attempt to deny people of faith, of any kind, of being involved in the foster care system.' Sen. Dennis Lenz said there was 'an illusion' religion had a 'negative impact.' 'If your car breaks down in the middle of the inner city in the dark of the night, and you have a mile back to home and a group of 20-year-olds is coming to you out of the dark, wouldn't it make a difference if they're coming from the Bible study?' said Lenz, a Republican from Billings. 'Most likely.' The Senate was under 'pressure' to pass the bill, Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula said on the floor. Some of that pressure was from the Montana Family Foundation, Boldman said in a text message, and one of the organization's lobbyists, Derek Oestreicher, was seated on a bench Monday in the Senate gallery. Oestreicher also provided testimony during the bill's Senate Judiciary hearing. He said during the bill's hearing that his organization had heard from religious families they would choose their faith over fostering. 'Montana Family Foundation was contacted by two separate families over the past year related to some of the required training that the state requires for foster families to undergo, and it discussed LGBTQ issues and how to address those issues,' Oestreicher said. 'And these families were concerned that this was a required training, and they weren't necessarily required to say they were an ally or that they would take a certain action with regard to LGBT issues, but it trended toward that, and it made them feel very uncomfortable.' Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, said he supported the bill and that it was 'academic' for him having gone through the process, though it wasn't clear if he meant fostering or adoption. But he then went on to say for him, there was no prejudice against his Lutheran faith. 'I've done it,' Glimm said, 'In my process, I wasn't discriminated against for my religious views.'
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Abortion restriction based on environmental impacts fails in Montana
A Montana bill to restrict abortion medicine based on effects on the environment fails on a tied vote in 2025. (Photo illustration by Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images) A bill to curtail abortion based on environmental effects of medication failed on a tied vote last week after legislators on both sides of the issue presented graphic and emotional testimony. Sponsor Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, said medicine used in chemical abortions pollutes the water supply, and in doing so, infringes on the constitutional rights of Montanans to a clean and healthful environment. A researcher who examines pharmaceuticals in the environment told the Daily Montanan environmental scientists state there is no evidence that mifepristone pollution harms people, animals or ecosystems. Senate Bill 479, part of a national trend to attempt to restrict abortion based on environmental effects, also sought to restrict chemical abortions based on interstate commerce. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats to oppose the bill last Thursday. The bill would have required health care providers to give patients a 'catch kit' and a 'medical waste bag,' the latter with the container or warning labels in fluorescent orange or orange-red. The medical waste bag would be labeled 'BIOHAZARD.' Providers who violated the law would have been subject to a felony and fine of up to $10,000 and three years in prison. The bill made exceptions for abortions necessary to preserve the life of a mother and for treatments of 'verified' ectopic pregnancies. The bill also aimed to regulate manufacturers of abortion drugs and would have subjected them to fines of up to $20,000. It required manufacturers to properly dispose of the drugs and mitigate environmental effects of 'endocrine-disrupting chemical byproducts' in public waste systems 'due to the disposal of tainted human remains entering the wastewater system as a result of at-home abortions.' Democrats stood up to harshly criticize the legislation as hypocritical and having potentially fatal effects. Republicans, however, said drugs in the water supply are a problem for humans and the environment, and Manzella invoked the Montana Supreme Court's order in the historic youth climate trial, Held vs. State of Montana. In that case, she said, the youth plaintiffs argued the state's actions could cause them future harm, and as such, a prohibition on the Montana Environmental Policy Act was declared unconstitutional. In November 2024, voters approved Constitutional Initiative 128, which made abortion a constitutional right in Montana. 'These constitutional rights are both fundamental, so they must be balanced,' Manzella said. 'We don't place abortion over all other rights.' In the Held order in 2024, the Montana Supreme Court said a law that limited analysis of greenhouse gas emissions violated the right to a clean and healthful environment. The justices said plaintiffs showed 'without dispute' that climate change is already harming the environment. In an email to the Daily Montanan, Jack Vanden Heuvel, a researcher and professor of molecular toxicology with Pennsylvania State University, said experts in his field argue the focus on mifepristone's environmental impact is being used as a political tool rather than a genuine environmental concern. 'While trace amounts may be flushed into wastewater, the drug tends to bind to solid waste and is effectively removed by most wastewater treatment plants,' said Vanden Heuvel, who examines pharmaceuticals in the environment and knows the health effects of contaminants found in water. 'Concerns about pharmaceuticals in the environment are more significant for antibiotics and other drugs that contribute to antimicrobial resistance. 'Additionally, research indicates that hormonal birth control medications detected in waterways primarily originate from untreated agricultural runoff rather than human excretion.' On the Senate floor, Sen. Laura Smith, D-Helena, said the bill puts women's lives in danger. Smith said when she was pregnant, she lived next door to a hospital in Missoula for two months because the doctors were concerned she would not survive the birth. 'The bill bans — it criminalizes — two medications, one of which I personally know about, because it prevented my daughter from not having a mother,' Smith said. 'It prevents postpartum hemorrhaging.' Smith said the drugs are 'pro-life' — 'they save women's lives.' Democrats also said the goal of the legislation was not a clean environment at all but to restrict abortion — and Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, said she appreciated the sponsor acknowledging that fact to her. Neumann said 21 Republicans represent districts that 'overwhelmingly' voted for CI-128 to protect privacy and protect the right to abortion. Neumann, who has a background in public health, said the bill targets mifepristone and misoprostol, 'critical tools in obstetric care,' also used for miscarriage management, labor induction and postpartum hemorrhage. She said when women or girls have an abortion, the bill would have them go to the doctor's office, obtain 'a bright red or orange catch kit,' and then collect the fetal remains. 'You need to imagine a woman or a girl having to squat over a catch kit,' Neumann said. 'This is gruesome. This is cruel. 'Is this how we treat the women that we hope will reproduce and have your babies? It's unreal.' Manzella retorted in her close. 'If it's gruesome to see what's expelled, maybe it should be gruesome to see what's expelled,' Manzella said. 'Your right to an abortion does not trump my right to a clean and healthful environment.' Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, said he is a pro-life Democrat, and he might be called a hypocrite, but he's starting to oppose pro-life bills. He said that's because the steep fines, prison time and felony charges bother him and reveal a purpose that's not about water quality. 'We've become more of a policing state anymore, increasing penalties and all of that,' Windy Boy said. Other legislators spoke in favor of the bill as a step toward environmental protection. Sen. Barry Usher, R-Billings, said he would encourage other legislators to bring bills to address some of the other toxic drugs polluting the environment. He said 'Big Pharma' is ultimately responsible, and science can find better solutions, but the industry will need to be forced into action. 'Although it may save lives in some situations, the toxicity in our water tables is not good for anybody,' Usher said. 'So Big Pharma can find good solutions if we force them to, but it's about the money. It's always about the money.' Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, said he didn't want drugs going into his body that he hadn't chosen himself, at least as much as possible. 'Overall, we should better regulate all drugs going into our water supply,' Trebas said. Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula, compared the abortion pill with another drug she said goes into the water supply. 'This pill that we have access to is 10 times safer than Viagra, which is also a pill — a pill men can take. That pill also goes into our public water supply. That bill is affecting our environment. It is a hormone with residual effects. 'So I pledge to my colleagues in this body that when you amend this bill to include Viagra, I will vote for this bill, and you can squat your residual effects into a bag.' But Boldman said she feared both parties would be wrong because the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected another state's effort to curtail women's access to the pill in June 2024. The bill failed to pass second reading 25-25, and it failed a motion to reconsider 23-27.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate bill could establish chaplain program for Montana public schools
A recently passed Senate Bill would allow public schools to have chaplains. (Photo illustration by Getty Images) Religious leaders could be coming to Montana public schools under a bill passed by the state Senate last week. Senate Bill 525, brought by Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, would allow — though not require — chaplains to either be paid by or volunteer at school districts to provide support, services and programs. It would apply to both public districts and at public charter schools, and if they're approved by a school board, could use public money to do so. Supporters argued the bill could help with student mental health issues and increase safety at schools, while detractors pointed to constitutional issues and accreditation issues. They also said they didn't want to see schools replacing mental health professionals with religious leaders, especially those whose views might not be inclusive of LGBTQ+ students. As the bill stands, chaplains could 'perform the duties required of a school counselor,' though Manzella vowed to strike the line if the bill makes it to the House while explaining the legislation on the Senate floor. 'It's not intended to be a school chaplain or a counselor,' Manzella said Thursday on the Senate floor. 'It's a school chaplain if a school chooses to utilize them, and they can utilize them paid or volunteer.' The only requirements for a school chaplain in the bill, as it stands, would be the person be 18 years of age and be of 'good moral character.' There's also a requirement that the chaplain be certified by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in some way. Manzella also said she'd strike a second line, that states, 'A school chaplain employed under this section is required to be certified by the superintendent of public instruction.' Manzella said that 'the certification process is extensive,' and a change to that part of the bill would need to be made. However, Manzella pointed to one organization that has been helping place chaplains in schools and already has an accreditation program. She lauded the National School Chaplain Association during the bill's hearing, saying, 'We're looking for solutions, and I had heard about this amazing program sometime back.' The organization is already in 30,000 schools, she said. The NSCA is based in Norman, Oklahoma, according to its website. School chaplain bills are being pushed across the country by the NSCA. The Texas Tribune reported in 2023 the organization was a major proponent of its state's school chaplain legislation. Last year, Politico reported on a Florida bill that is similar to Manzella's proposed legislation. It was also supported by NSCA. The NSCA already has an eight-week accreditation program for chaplains. It includes, 'Active Shooter Certification, Behavioral Threat Assessment Certification, and the Stop The Bleed Certification.' Johnny Davis, the chief development officer with the NSCA, spoke in lieu of founder and CEO Rocky Malloy during the bill's hearing. Davis said '100% of school shootings are known about beforehand,' and pointed to chaplains in schools as an answer, saying they make schools safer and can help 'prevent these issues.' He went on to say their chaplains are trained in non-religious environments. The program costs about $1,000 and includes a background check, a step spelled out in Manzella's bill. 'Chaplains are skilled and trained to work in secular environments, providing care for individuals from all walks of life, regardless of race, belief and culture, and this skill has made them invaluable in us,' Davis said. 'Institutions such as the military, hospitals, prisons, professional sports teams, universities and corporations and today, we feel that their unique skills are critically needed in our schools.' The accreditation program is run through Oral Roberts University, an evangelical Christian school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While it's unclear if those in the program have to abide by it, the Oral Roberts student honor code specifically prohibits relations between people of the same sex. The NSCA seeks to have a 'chaplain on every school campus,' according to its mission statement. While Davis said the organization is trained to work in secular environments, it's also clear on where it stands on marriage equality. 'We believe in marriage as an irreplaceable and core institution created by God; one biological man and one biological woman freely and publicly enter into the marital covenant through solemn vows,' the NSCA's statement of faith states, citing several verses from Genesis and one from the Gospel of Matthew. Religious leaders with differing views on sex, gender, and LGBTQ+ issues is a problem ACLU Montana highlighted. 'We are deeply concerned that substituting school chaplains for school counselors might deprive 2S-LGBTQIA+ students of an inclusive and welcoming school environment, depending on the religious beliefs of the chaplain,' Alex Rate, Legal Director for ACLU Montana said in an email. 'School counselors are specially trained to provide services and support to all students, regardless of their identities. Chaplains are, by definition, guided by their faith.' Definitions of sex, as well as bathroom bills and even an attempt by the Legislature to tell the U.S. Supreme Court they were wrong to legalize same-sex marriage have all been heard this session. While supporters of the bill pointed to crisis intervention, opponents said there were issues with accreditation. Both the Montana Federation of Public Employees and the state's Board of Education testified against the bill, as did the ACLU. 'There's nothing in this bill that remotely aligns to the requirements in our rules,' McCall Flynn, the executive director of the Montana Board of Public Education, said in the bill's hearing. Rob Watson, representing School Administrators of Montana and speaking against the bill, pointed out the only requirement for a school chaplain as the bill was written was to be 18 years old and 'in good moral standing.' Others pointed to the issue of adding religion to schools. Montana has a high youth suicide rate and some wondered if adding in God was really the right answer. 'A child is struggling with suicidal thoughts, abuse or trauma, they don't need religious guidance,' said Lindsay DeGroote, who is a Montana licensed school and clinical counselor. 'They need evidence-based professional care in schools.' All but one Senate Republican voted for the bill on the second reading, while all but one of 18 Democrats voted against it. Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester voted against it, while Sen. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish voted for it. Tempel also voted against the bill in committee. The Senate passed the bill without amendments, although some Senators were lukewarm on the issue. 'I think the value that they could bring to the table is worth exploring, but there are a million questions that we would need to look at,' said Sen. Sara Novak, D-Anaconda, who voted no on the bill in committee and on the floor.
