HELENA — The Montana Senate preliminarily passed two bills Monday sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, and earlier “blasted” to the floor with a procedural move, including legislation to remove a “sunset” provision from the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act.
The Montana Indian Child Welfare Act, similar to the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, ensures the state prioritizes preserving a Native American child’s culture and keeping the child with their community when being removed from a parent or parents’ care and being placed, the Daily Montanan reports.
It passed in Montana in 2023 with a sunset in 2025 pending a U.S. Supreme Court case, which upheld ICWA.
But Windy Boy said the Montana law goes beyond the protections in federal law, it is based on the sovereign status of tribes, and it ensures children have a connection to their tribe and culture.
“There is no asset more valuable to our future than our children,” Windy Boy said.
For example, if termination of the legal parent-child relationship is sought in Montana, parents must be notified at every step in the process, an element that differs from federal law.
Senate Bill 147 also says any officer influencing foster care or parental rights must demonstrate they have participated “in active efforts to prevent the breakup of the Indian family.”
Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, said 30% of children in foster care are Native American, but just 6% of the population of Montana is Native American, and having the legislation in place helps Indian children.
“Those are appalling statistics,” Webber said. “So anything we can do to help that situation, alleviate that situation, we should do it.”
Montana has a high suicide rate for youth, and Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, said for Native American youth connected to culture and language, the suicide rate is 13 out of 100,000, and for those not connected to culture, it’s 96 per 100,000.
“We see marked increases in their self-esteem as soon as they get connected to culture,” Neumann said.
Windy Boy said the bill was personal to him. In February 2020, his daughter died, and she left seven grandchildren, and he said if he and “their grandma” didn’t step up, they probably would not have been exposed to powwows or ceremonies.
“If they were caught up in the system, the foster care system, who’s to say where they would have went?” Windy Boy said.
The bill passed second reading 31-19, and Windy Boy’s Senate Bill 181 also passed 31-19.
SB 181 aims to strengthen the state’s commitment to Montana Indian Education for All.
The Indian Education for All Act states that Montana recognizes “the distinct and unique cultural heritage of American Indians” and is committed in its educational goals “to the preservation of their cultural heritage.”
It says every Montanan, whether Indian or not, is encouraged to learn about American Indians, every educational agency will work with the tribes to teach those lessons, and school employees will have an understanding of the tribes to help them relate to Indian students and parents.
Windy Boy said the Montana Legislature put $3.5 million in the base budget for Indian Education for All starting around 2007, but some of it hasn’t been used for its intended purpose.
Last session, he said, out of 403 school districts, 150 did not report or underreported the Indian Education for All money the state provided, and the bill intends to create accountability.
As drafted, the bill requires reporting to the interim education committee and state-tribal relations committee. It states that if funds are misused, the Office of Public Instruction will reduce the subsequent year’s dollars by the same amount, and it will publish an annual report of school districts that don’t meet the standards, among other provisions.
Sen. Jacinda Morigeau, D-Arlee, said Montana is a leader on this front, and many other states have modeled legislation after Indian Education for All.
“And I want to see us continue being leaders in the nation,” Morigeau said. “We really are the gold standard for this type of educational mandate.”
The bills both were tabled in committee, but the Senate can pull a tabled bill onto the floor with a “blast” motion and majority vote, and it “blasted” both SB 147 and SB 181.
The bills need another vote in the Senate before moving to the House.
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