Legislation one step in repairing a broken system

One of the major accomplishments of the 2023 Legislature came through the passage of House Bill 872.

Rep. Bob Keenan of Bigfork, Rep. Courtenay Sprunger of Kalispell and Llew Jones of Conrad introduced the bill that offers a $300 million surge to help revamp the state’s mental and behavioral health system that was left on life support following budget cuts in 2017.

Those cuts quickly led to diminished services across the state, and were acutely felt in Northwest Montana following the closure of Glacier House, a 24-hour crisis receiving center in Kalispell formerly operated by Western Montana Mental Health Clinic.