ASUM is opposing House Bill 2, a budgeting bill that proposes cuts to higher education funding for the next two years, as well as cuts to mental health support, while giving more money toward implementing the new gun law.Â
Maggie Bornstein, ASUMâs student political action director, cited multiple reasons for ASUMâs opposition to HB 2, including a lack of funding to suicide prevention efforts. The bill would also give a $1 million provision to implement the requirements of HB 102, which allows the concealed carry of firearms on campus starting in June.Â
Bornstein said that while the bill makes some effort to restore cuts to need-based aid with national COVID-19 relief funding, ASUMâs concern is that the relief funding wasnât meant to provide a supplement for cuts.Â
Senate Bill 215, known as the âMontana Religious Freedom Restoration Act,â which has raised concerns regarding discrimination in the state, passed both the Senate and House, and is headed to Gov. Greg Gianforteâs desk as of April 6.Â
On March 11, the billâs sponsor, Republican state senator Carl Glimm, said that the bill aims to strengthen Montanansâ First Amendment right to freedom of religion in his introduction of the bill to the Montana House of Representatives.Â
SB 215âs language states that the bill aims to âprovide a claim or defense to a person or persons whose exercise of religion is substantially burdened by state action.âÂ