Toplines: Session Vibe Check; Hands off our Voting Rights; Watch List +Wins
Events, Rallies and Gatherings
Forward Montana legislative team will have our final zoom event next week. We’ll walk you through what’s happening at the Legislature around housing policy, share how to give public comment, and answer any questions you have about the session! Join us on Thursday, Feb 27th at 6pm for our Housing issues session with Sage, our Housing and Voter Engagement Organizer
Forward Montana legislative team will have our final zoom event next week. We’ll walk you through what’s happening at the Legislature around housing policy, share how to give public comment, and answer any questions you have about the session! Join us on Thursday, Feb 27th at 6pm for our Housing issues session with Sage, our Housing and Voter Engagement Organizer
Join the MSU Forward Montana club for community, crafts and civic engagement! We will meet MSU Bozeman in Wilson 2105 Monday, February 24 at 6pm to 7pm. Sign up here! Can’t make it the 24th? We meet every other Monday! Join us another time 😊
Join Forward Montana for a Bozeman Black History Month Celebration at The Cultured Community Center, Tuesday, February 25 at 5:30 to 7pm. Come join us as we learn about the history and significance of quilting in the African American community! We will end the evening with an update from the legislative session and how the community can get involved!
Join Forward Montana and Queer Bozeman Saturday, March 1st 12:30-2:30PM at Bozeman Public Library (virtual option available!) for an informative session and panel discussion on how you can find your power during this uncertain and challenging Montana legislative session. RSVP here
Session Vibe Check
As previously mentioned in Jan.11 and Feb. 7 blogs, the senate this session has had some tense moments in debates about leadership, rules, and ethics. We saw the next chapter in this political tension unroll at the beginning of this seventh week.
In an evening session on Monday, one senator released a legion of motions into the mic, which had the floor in debate for over three hours. What is a motion? A motion occurs when a legislator asks for a vote on a procedural action – moving a bill around, re-doing a bill vote, or shifting the make-up of a committee – but in each instance, a motion requires floor debate and a vote from the chamber.
Senator Josh Kassmier (R-Fort Benton) stood on Monday and began the slew of motions with a request to change the committee placement for three other senators. Despite pointed objections from the Majority Leader, this motion passed 27-23.
And that is the vote that held for motion after motion, as senators painfully processed over 21 procedural votes to shift committee members and move bills into Senate committees that had previously been held up in the process. Senators demonstrated all 5 stages of grief as they coped with this long list of motions – from jokes into the mic to calling each other out, a small section of conservatives decided against professionalism.
The tension isn’t only in the Senate these days. On Wednesday, the House chamber debated HB 371 from Rep. Kmetz, which would ban the use of mRNA vaccines (like Covid vaccines). Some conservatives stood to spread misinformation about vaccines, using time at the mic to say such ludicrous statements like mRNA vaccines can be spread person-to-person through saliva or that almost 30% of youth experience heart damage after vaccination. We were heartened to see the representatives reject these falsehoods. Legislators from both parties stood to oppose this bill, which ultimately failed 34-66 – that is 24 Republicans and 42 Democrats voting in favor of keeping our communities safe!
Clearly, Republicans are not a monolith – with some Republican legislators still willing to respect their oath to serve, even while extreme conservatives yell down at their colleagues and throw temper tantrums during floor debates.
As of Friday, Feb. 21, legislators only have 10 days left to get general policy bills introduced, have their first hearing, and get transferred to the next chamber, before they die in the process. The transmittal deadline is March 6th. We are anxious to see how legislators prioritize important bills on housing, climate, and education.
Hands Off Our Voting Rights
We know that there are barriers to voting access in our state – which is why we are so annoyed that legislators are bringing bills to undermine that further.
Let’s start with HB 413, which would revise election laws regarding residency and is 100% voter suppression. This bill would change the current eligibility laws and ban certain individuals from registering to vote. It states that out-of-state college students, military trainees in Montana, and temporary workers in the state do not have equal rights to vote in state elections.
For reference, residency is currently established after someone lives 30 days in the state, but according to the sponsor and proponents, if students and temporary workers haven’t decided yet to make Montana their forever home, they shouldn’t be allowed to influence local and state elections.
Next, HB 410, which would require a minimum expectation of voter turnout in local elections for bonds and levies. Why is this nefarious? If a bond or levy is on the ballot and receives support from voters but voter turnout doesn’t reach 35%, then it doesn’t pass, dismissing the validity of the votes cast. Is voter turnout in local elections a struggle? Absolutely. Does this bill seek to support voter outreach? No. Does this bill seek to disenfranchise voters? 100%, which is why it is despicable.
This undermining of elections has been a session-long push, with some conservatives, specifically those from the Senate Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform, attempting to undermine our impartial judiciary by pushing for partisan elections of judges with bills like SB 42 and HB 295. But we were pleasantly shocked this week, when Chief Justice Cory Swanson, in his address to the full legislature on Monday, called for judicial elections to remain nonpartisan! 🎉
Both SB 42 and HB 295 passed through their first committees but have yet to appear on agendas for full floor debates, we wait to see how this proclamation will influence decision-makers on these partisan policies.
Finally, we are disappointed to share that HB 395 passed through committee this week. This bill threatens to disenfranchise thousands of voters, specifically individuals living with disabilities or brain injuries. It is on the House floor for debate on Saturday Feb. 22nd. We will update you next week on where it goes from here.
Let’s end with a gem: SB 220, the Native American Voting Rights Act. This bill was introduced by Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy and had its first hearing on Monday. We couldn’t hold back our excitement during testimony because this bill would do so much to expand voting access in our state – and to communities that were previously targeted by voter suppression tactics.
SB 220 would establish permanent satellite elections offices on each of the seven reservations within the state. Not only that, it would support more folks’ eligibility to register and vote by accepting nontraditional addresses, allowing the acceptance of tribal IDs, and increasing the number of ballot boxes in rural reservation communities.
We must have everyone fighting to get this bill passed. Call or message Senators and tell them that they must get SB 220 passed through the Senate. Find your Senator here and leave a message here!
WATCH LIST & WINS
What we are closely watching…
Good bill
HB 484 from Rep. Kelly Kortum (D-Bozeman) would revise Montana’s minimum wage laws by increasing the state minimum wage from $6.15 to $12.06 per hour! This bill has its first hearing in House Business and Labor on Monday, February 24th at 8am. Sign up to give testimony or submit comments to the committee this weekend!
Bad bills
SB 299 from Sen. John Fuller (R-Kalispell) would mandate that school districts must alert and gain consent from parents to discuss related to sex education, including gender identity. Sen. Fuller claims that teachers and guidance counselors are tearing families apart by pushing students to keep secrets from their parents. We think Sen. Fuller should stop targeting trans youth and the people who support them. Message legislators on Senate Education and tell them to vote NO on SB 299.
HB 446 from Rep. Jedediah Hinkle (R-Belgrade) would update the laws on indecent exposure, allowing anyone to claim their ‘dignity’ has been violated if they encounter a transgender person in a public changing room. During committee debate, conservative legislators shared that public spaces require further regulation because of the ‘threat’ transgender people pose to other people in the community. This bill heads to the House floor and we need every Representative to hear that this bill is violent towards trans people. Tell representatives to vote no on HB 446.
HB 400 from Rep. Braxton Mitchell (R-Columbia Falls) would legally protect anti-trans behavior in public schools and agencies – and most notably includes language around the definition of sex that a Missoula District Court judge ruled on Tuesday is unconstitutional. The House floor debate contained the same repeated hateful remarks against trans people. We are so grateful to Reps. Howell, Stafman, Zephyr, Romano, and Powers who stood and raised their voices in defense of trans youth.
And a win!
We forgot to share a win with you from two weeks ago: SB 210, which would have removed the requirement for a student regent on the board of regents, was tabled in committee! So glad legislators agreed that this bill would undermine youth voices and access to decision making.
Hero of the Week- Sen. Jacinda Morigeau (D- Arlee)
We know that engaging in the legislative session for most of us is inconvenient and confusing. Hearing times fluctuate, the bills are confusing, what is even happening with the online portal, etc. And this results in bill hearings without essential voices in the room.
At the hearing for SB 299, a bill claiming to protect youth from certain school subjects (see above), we saw testimony mostly came from people well past their youth. While we understand that parents want to know what their children are learning about, we also believe it is vitally important for young people to have their voices centered in the discussion.
Which leads us to our Hero of the Week: Senator Jacinda Morigeau who pushed back against Sen. Fuller’s ‘protect the children’ rhetoric during questions from the committee. She called out how the bill undermines youth rights, and got Sen. Fuller on the record saying that he cares more about upholding his idea of traditional family values than the rights of youth in Montana.
In a room full of people who, one conservative legislator described as people who may not remember what it was like to be a youth, Sen. Morigeau refused to back down as she questioned the legal and moral validity of this type of legislation.
And this isn’t the first time we’ve seen that Sen. Morigeau has our backs. In other bills, she has pointed out how the policy will impact young people across our state. We are so grateful for how Sen. Morigeau continues to uplift the power and importance of youth.
Villain of the Week- Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe (R-Billings)
We know y’all have been waiting for this one – so you won’t be shocked to see that this week’s villain is Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe.
Unusual fashion choices aside, what we find most disgusting about this legislator’s actions is her insistence at being the face of the anti-trans movement in the Capitol building, tied only with Senator Fuller in the number of anti-trans bills introduced. She also takes every opportunity to spew hatred and misinformation into the microphone to alienate and disparage transgender and intersex people in our communities.
On Thursday, she set an indignant tone during her opening for HB 300 during the Senate Judiciary hearing, claiming that she was there to support the ‘biological reality’ that men’s bodies are just bigger, better, and stronger than women’s bodies – which has us questioning whether she really is the best advocate for women’s equality.
During the afternoon floor debate on HB 400, the bill that would prohibit public schools and agencies from implementing policies to protect LGBTQ individuals, Rep. Seekins-Crowe stood to share her views on the importance of protecting (cis) women and children from transgender ‘ideology’.
We have spent weeks listening to her irate speeches, and were finally pushed over the edge when she decided to champion a bill that would expand the criminal code and focus on criminalizing individuals who seek abortions, or as the bills calls it: abortion trafficking. Through HB 609, patients and those who support them in accessing care could be criminally charged and possibly incarcerated, if the patient receives an illegal abortion. This bill has a hearing next Wednesday, February 26th. Please join us by testifying against this unconstitutional nonsense.
Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe may claim to be an advocate for women, but she is working hard to undermine the power and rights of everyone, including cisgender women. And for this reason, she is our villain of the week.
