Montana bill would repeal long‑dormant interagency prevention council

Representative Lehi Bennett, sponsor: "This bill is sort of a cleanup bill or a government efficiency bill." Bennett asked the Senate State Administration Committee to repeal the Interagency Coordinating Council for State Prevention Programs through House Bill 280.

The bill would abolish a council the sponsor said the Legislature created in 1993 to coordinate prevention services across state agencies. Bennett told the committee the council "has not met for over 10 years," that its work has been incorporated into agency programs and that repeal would "eliminate redundancy" and save taxpayer dollars.

Why it matters: proponents argued the council’s duties overlap existing agency programs and that dissolving it would allow prevention efforts to be managed directly by the relevant departments. Kevin Northey, policy adviser to Governor Jane Fortner, told the committee the governor’s red‑tape review found many boards and councils whose missions have been completed and asked for a due‑pass recommendation for HB 280.

State Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (BHDD) staff also testified in support, saying there is no publicly available data showing recent council activity and noting that current BHDD duties and the Behavioral Health Advisory Council already cover related prevention work required under the federal mental health block grant.

Committee process and outcome: the hearing was informational; no committee motion or recorded vote on HB 280 appears in the transcript. Proponents asked the committee to advance the bill for further consideration.

What was said about functions and membership: Bennett said the council was composed of 12 state agency representatives and two governor‑appointed members with prevention program experience and that, after conducting an inventory, it developed five youth risk‑behavior goals (reduce child abuse and neglect; reduce youth tobacco, alcohol and drug use; reduce youth violence and crime; reduce school dropout rates; reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease). Bennett and other supporters said agency programs now incorporate those prevention efforts.

Outstanding details: supporters characterized the change as fiscal and administrative housekeeping; the transcript contains no independent fiscal estimate, no timeline for repeal, and no recorded committee action on HB 280. The bill text and any referenced statute establishing the council were not read into the record during the hearing and are listed below as referenced but "not specified" in detail.

The committee moved on after questions concluded and accepted sponsor closing remarks asking for support.