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Senators table renewal of dependency‑neglect task force after mixed committee reaction
Summary
Senate Bill 268 sought to renew a dependency‑neglect task force that studied child‑welfare court improvements. Senators diverged over the task force’s productivity and whether additional study would yield cost‑saving reforms; the committee ultimately tabled the bill during executive action after an initial roll‑call vote failed.
Senate Bill 268 would renew the dependency‑neglect (DN) task force that studied possible reforms to Montana’s DN court processes during the interim, including discussion of a statewide DN court and proposals to improve efficiency in current hearings.
Sponsor Sen. Lance described prior interim work and said several constructive proposals emerged, including adjustments to hearing time frames for show‑cause and five‑day EPS hearings. He asked the committee to continue the work to make the DN court system more effective.
Informational witnesses included Angie Carter (Legislative financial director) and Brian Smith (public‑defender division administrator) who were available to answer fiscal and implementation questions. During the hearing senators pressed whether the task force produced tangible, cost‑saving proposals in the prior interim. Sen. Lenz recalled some items but could not itemize them on the spot; other members expressed skepticism that further studies would produce useful results without concrete implementation plans.
In executive action, a motion to pass the bill failed on roll call (7 yes, 15 no). A later motion to "reverse the vote to table" carried, and the committee effectively tabled SB268. Several senators said they were disappointed the task force did not achieve clearer, implementable results in the previous interim and were reluctant to fund another study without stronger assurances of payoff.
Committee members asked for documentation of prior task‑force outputs and for clearer linkage between proposed studies and measurable, budgetary outcomes before considering renewal.
