Checking the Foundation

I spent yesterday at the Montana Legislature's Law and Justice Interim Committee. The Committee was focusing on improving Montana's DUI law and NAMI has a role in the process since many people who have serious mental illness also have co-occurring alcohol and substance abuse disorders. The legislators have spent a lot of time analyzing the issues and have come to some really strong conclusions. From NAMI's perspective, we really liked their focus on treating the underlying causes for the behavior rather than just focusing on stacking up the punishment.

However, treatment and education cost money. While they may save us money in the end due to lower rates of incarceration, etc.; they do carry a price tag. The challenges in paying for that price tag became very clear when DPHHS Director Anna Whiting Sorrell had to tell the interim committee that the budget for two of the three crisis bills that came out of the last interim committee had been cut. DPHHS cut HB 131 and HB 132, but left HB 130's grant program for jail diversion and crisis intervention.

To their credit, none of the legislators tried to make hay out of these cuts. They thanked Director Whiting Sorrell for her service in these challenging times and asked her to try and protect the critical crisis services paid for in HB 130 from further cuts. NAMI couldn't agree more.

At the end of the day, it was really hard not to think that it may be time for Montana to find another way to help pay for the mental illness treatment system that one-in-five Montana families so desperately need. How deeply can we cut this treatment system, before our leaders find a way to supplement the declining revenue with another funding stream, such as additional taxes on alcohol and tobacco?

No one likes to talk about raising taxes, but no one likes to talk about the dangers of untreated mental illness and co-occurring disorders either. Eventually we'll have to talk about one or the other. From my desk, it's pretty clear which is the lesser of two evils.

Sincerely,

Matt Kuntz
Executive Director
NAMI Montana