Montana Legislature Set to Pass Suicide Prevention Bill

The Montana Legislature has been working trying to pass a number of different bills to deal with the issue of suicide in the State, according to Montana congressman Jonathan Windy Boy, a lot of the ideas in various bills are being collected into one.

"In the session, there were 9 to 10 suicide bills total, and we were all heading in the right direction, the same direction, then at the deadline, we decided that House Bill 118 had the broadest title to do what we wanted to do," said Windy Boy

Windy Boy sponsored House Bill 118 and says the bill will spend nearly one million dollars addressing the issue of suicide in the state. About $250,000 will be spent to address suicide in Indian Country, where rates are higher than Montana, a state well known as having one of the highest suicide rates in the nation.

"There was another $250,000 that is going out as grants for schools to address children that are suicide prone, and then $500,000 is going out as grants for veteran groups, Indian Veterans and [Suicide Prevention] groups in general," Windy Boy said.

House Bill 118 passed its third reading on Monday with on a bipartisan 44 to 6 vote. Some amendments were added by the senate and the bill will now go back to the house for a vote on those amendments.