Editorials

Bill 419

By Jordyn Raffety, Lobbyist

I want to tell you about Hathaway House bill 419, addressing the current issue with horse slaughter. This is not a joke bill! The organization PETA helped outlaw horse slaughter several years ago, claiming that using horses, as a meat source is cruel and unethical. It was banned in the U.S. This bill has been detrimental to the horse industry and horse market. People now have no way to get rid of old, injured, and crippled horses they cannot afford to keep alive. Cases have been recorded of people cutting brands off their horses so they cannot be traced back, and turning them loose on the Bureau of Land Management to starve because they have no other way to get rid of them.

            Instead of being slaughtered in clean, humane, and heavily regulated USA plants, these unwanted horses are now crammed onto trucks and shipped hundreds of miles to Mexico or Canada, where horse slaughter plants are less humane, and more traumatizing for the horses. Keep in mind that associations centered around horses-such as the American Quarter Horse Association and the American Veterinarian Medical Association–are in favor of the horse slaughter bill. Even PETA (one of the main advocates to eliminate horse slaughter) is now working to bring it back.

            I sincerely hope that this has helped you consider a different outlook in horse slaughter. I encourage you to support HH Bill 419.

Bill 130

By  Kacie McKeon

Bill #130, entitled “REQUIRE THAT SEAT BELTS BE INSTALLED IN ALL MOTORCYCLES IN MONTANA”, says that seatbelts on motorcycles are a good idea. Other than being a form of transportation, cars and motorcycles are very different as far as structure and safety goes. Cars are built based on the “cage” structure for safety purposes. When in a wreck the safest place is fastened in a seatbelt to prevent being flung onto the road but this is not the same with a motorcycle. If a person were fastened on to a bike that is about to wreck their natural instincts would be to get off that bike before it crashes. The end result if that person remained on the bike would be much worse than if they jumped off before the collision. Most people in bike accidents are injured from being pinned under the bike. If there were seatbelts this would be the result of every wreck. When a motorcycle is about to wreck the safest place would be OFF the motorcycle.

Bill 210

By Anna  Claypool, Lobbyist

I am writing to you as a lobbyist who is concerned about bill number 210 entitled “certain things should NOT be sold in certain sizes.”  After reviewing this bill I found many problems and issues that could arise upon passage of this bill. The first big problem with this bill is that I personally cannot see how this bill could possibly be enforced. It violates the right all Americans have to freely express themselves. So, therefore, there is no way this bill, as a law, will be successful.

Controversial Bill # 125   By Carlee Norbeck

Senate bill number 125 is entitled “MONTANA HANGOVER DAY” which entitles that after every Super Bowl the following Monday is considered a state holiday. It also states that every nonemergency employees have the day off, but emergency employees need to remain on call in case someone is need of help. This bill may cause serious debate because those employees that need to remain on call may see it as unfair and feel if they have to go to work everyone should have to. Many minors see this as a great day because it is one more day off from going to that place we all dread known as school. It may have troubles passing because Sunday is the last day of the weekend and therefore there is two more days prior to this event to get all the fun in for the weekend.