Drones, assisted suicide, federal lands and health care

• The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony for a bill that would establish an “unmanned aerial vehicle act” — the licensing of drones.

Rep. Jeff Essman, R-Billings, sponsored House Bill 593 in order to prevent drones from invading Montanans’ privacy. He cited the case of a woman who found a downed drone in her backyard after dark and suspected it was spying on two teenage girls next door.

The bill would direct the Montana Department of Transportation to license and collect data on drone usage in the state. It would also prohibit the use of drones to photograph or record a person, private home or the agricultural industry without written consent.

Rep. Kirk Wagoner, R-Montana City, suggested the bill seemed unnecessary because Gov. Steve Bullock signed a bill in February that updated the state’s surreptitious viewing laws to prevent Peeping Toms from using remote recording devices.

Two representatives from model airplane groups in Billings, Missoula and Helena opposed the bill, saying it would inhibit recreational flyers.

• A third reading of a bill that would have made it illegal for doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients who asked for it was turned down in the House by a 50-50 vote on March 13.

House Bill 477, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Bennett, R-Libby, would have made physician-assisted suicide a criminal act punishable by prison time and fines.

The Compassion & Choices Montana group praised the bipartisan vote. This was the second bill in four weeks that attempted to “gut” the 2009 Montana Supreme Court ruling in Baxter v. Montana, the group said.

On Feb. 17, the House turned down a bill that would have charged a doctor with homicide for writing a prescription for aid-in-dying medication. The group also noted that a 2013 poll showed that 69 percent of Montanans supported allowing physicians to write prescriptions for aid-in-dying medication.

• A bill that would have established a task force to study the idea of transferring federal lands to the state failed to pass the House Natural Resources Committee on March 13.

House Bill 496, sponsored by Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman, called for spending $35,000 in the next two years. Opponents called that a waste of money.

Following a 9-9 vote, the committee voted 10-8 to table the proposal, which means the bill is dead unless the committee revives it or a supermajority vote in the House brings it to the floor.

• A bill that would provide catastrophic health care costs for about 800 people per year is headed to the House Human Services Committee.

House Bill 582, sponsored by Rep. Art Wittich, R-Bozeman, would create a $35 million account funded by the state that would cover health care costs exceeding $10,000 for some low-income adults.

Touted as the Republicans’ alternative to Gov. Steve Bullock’s Medicaid expansion proposal, HB 582 would be funded through an existing health insurance tax that goes to the state. The governor’s proposal would expand health care coverage to 70,000 low-income people.

The Montana House recently heard a wide range of issues, from concerns about drones invading privacy to physician-assisted suicide and transferring federal lands to the state.

• The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony for a bill that would establish an “unmanned aerial vehicle act” — the licensing of drones.

Rep. Jeff Essman, R-Billings, sponsored House Bill 593 in order to prevent drones from invading Montanans’ privacy. He cited the case of a woman who found a downed drone in her backyard after dark and suspected it was spying on two teenage girls next door.

The bill would direct the Montana Department of Transportation to license and collect data on drone usage in the state. It would also prohibit the use of drones to photograph or record a person, private home or the agricultural industry without written consent.

Rep. Kirk Wagoner, R-Montana City, suggested the bill seemed unnecessary because Gov. Steve Bullock signed a bill in February that updated the state’s surreptitious viewing laws to prevent Peeping Toms from using remote recording devices.

Two representatives from model airplane groups in Billings, Missoula and Helena opposed the bill, saying it would inhibit recreational flyers.

• A third reading of a bill that would have made it illegal for doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients who asked for it was turned down in the House by a 50-50 vote on March 13.

House Bill 477, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Bennett, R-Libby, would have made physician-assisted suicide a criminal act punishable by prison time and fines.

The Compassion & Choices Montana group praised the bipartisan vote. This was the second bill in four weeks that attempted to “gut” the 2009 Montana Supreme Court ruling in Baxter v. Montana, the group said.

On Feb. 17, the House turned down a bill that would have charged a doctor with homicide for writing a prescription for aid-in-dying medication. The group also noted that a 2013 poll showed that 69 percent of Montanans supported allowing physicians to write prescriptions for aid-in-dying medication.

• A bill that would have established a task force to study the idea of transferring federal lands to the state failed to pass the House Natural Resources Committee on March 13.

House Bill 496, sponsored by Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman, called for spending $35,000 in the next two years. Opponents called that a waste of money.

Following a 9-9 vote, the committee voted 10-8 to table the proposal, which means the bill is dead unless the committee revives it or a supermajority vote in the House brings it to the floor.

• A bill that would provide catastrophic health care costs for about 800 people per year is headed to the House Human Services Committee.

House Bill 582, sponsored by Rep. Art Wittich, R-Bozeman, would create a $35 million account funded by the state that would cover health care costs exceeding $10,000 for some low-income adults.

Touted as the Republicans’ alternative to Gov. Steve Bullock’s Medicaid expansion proposal, HB 582 would be funded through an existing health insurance tax that goes to the state. The governor’s proposal would expand health care coverage to 70,000 low-income people.