Author: Dara Deines

Of the over 30 bills this session trying to mess with this branch of government, legislators put forward 4 options to change how judges are chosen – and undermine the checks and balances of our democracy. Three of these dangerous bills are still moving and were debated in the House Judiciary committee this week.

Two bills, SB 42 and HB 838, would change this – creating partisan election of judges and allowing for the influx of political money to determine who ends up in charge of our courtrooms.

This will impact more than decisions on constitutional challenge cases – SB 42 would politicize judges at every level: municipal judges who oversee your unpaid parking tickets, family law judges who decide child custody cases, district court judges who oversee employee rights cases. All of these judges are in jeopardy of becoming beholden to a political platform on how to rule in the courtroom. 

The third bill, HB 506, would take away voters’ ability to elect Montana supreme court justices – and give the power to a selection committee made up of the Governor plus majority and minority party leadership – a system referred to as ‘merit-appointment’. We only imagine the raucous political debate and opaque decisions of such a committee. 

Last week, the Senate Ethics committee released its final decision regarding potential ethics violations by Sen. Jason Ellsworth (R-Hamilton). The news triggered another lengthy Senate debate on Monday, with proposed next steps including expulsion and censorship – both failing as Democrats and a handful of Republicans were unwilling to accept either punishment. 

Both Sen. Ellsworth, former Senate President, and current President Matt Regier (R-Kalispell) faced questions this session about how they each used state money in their official roles. Don’t be confused by the ‘R’s next to their names – they lead two separate factions of the Republican party in the Senate. 

Sen. Ellsworth is one of nine Republicans that have collectively split from the party multiple times this session to vote with Democrats against bad policy proposals – leading to some others in their party nicknaming them the ‘Nasty 9’.  

There are two bills up next week that will impact Montana’s housing affordability. First, HB 843 which would create the Montana emergency solutions grant for rapid re-housing. This bill would target state funds towards rapid re-housing options for individuals across our state who face an unexpected loss of housing or struggle to maintain stable housing. 

And a follow-up to HB 311: Thursday brought a contentious hearing in the Senate Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs committee. By 8:30 a.m., the room was overflowing—with landlords, renters, realtors, homeowners, and even a former mayor of Bozeman.All there to speak on whether we should require landlords to refund rental application fees to unsuccessful applicants.

Also up next week is HB 400, Enact the “Free to Speak Act”, from Rep. Braxton Mitchell. As a reminder, this bill would prohibit schools and public agencies from implementing policies that protect LGBTQ individuals from harassment or discrimination. Send a message to Senators by the end of next week and tell them to vote NO on HB 400. Want to testify? HB 400 will be heard in Senate Judiciary on Wednesday April 2nd at 8am.

This week’s hero and villain come from the House floor debate on abortion rights. You read that correctly: this week, Representatives debated whether our communities have the right to abortion and other reproductive health care. Despite a clear victory at the polls last fall, the sponsor and last week’s villain, Rep. Lee Deming questioned whether some voters had ‘buyer remorse’ in voting in favor of CI-128 – and at one point compared the fight to end abortion with the fight for women’s suffrage.  

This week’s villain, Rep. Greg Kmetz (R-Miles City) stood proudly to remind everyone of his campaign slogan – babies, bullets, and borders. He then compared abortion to a gladiator’s brutal murder in the colosseum and used his time to spread misinformation about late-term abortions, finally declaring his goal is to ensure that no abortion is allowed to happen again at any stage of pregnancy. Rep. Kmetz wasn’t the only Republican to stand in support of HB 316, his violent imagery and views on bodily autonomy stood out amongst the crowd. 

This week’s hero, Rep. Sherry Essmann (R-Billings), took a stand against her party’s insistence in undermining the CI-128 decision. She acknowledged that while she is personally against abortion, she respects the voters’ say on this issue. She questioned the sponsor for implying that voters weren’t smart enough to know what they were voting on with CI-128. She then spoke in defense of the Montana Constitution – and questioned why her colleagues want to mess around with this very important state document. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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! 🎉

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.

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. 

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! 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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’. 

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. 

We continue to face disgusting and misinformed anti-trans bills this session. We think we speak for every trans person when we say: it is time to address our housing crisis, rather than sit through another hearing full of obtuse and witless people debate trans rights. 

Now, HB 400 would expand this to prohibit public institutions and agencies from implementing policies that would prevent this type of discriminatory behavior. *Sigh* For a party obsessed with ‘protecting’ children, they continue to demonstrate they are committed to harming transgender youth – and adults.  

As we prepared for HB 400, we saw Rep. Jedidiah Hinkle (R-Belgrade) has introduced a violent piece of legislation focused on continuing his obsession with other people’s genitalia. HB 446 would update the laws on indecent exposure – allowing anyone to claim their ‘dignity’ has been violated if they find themselves in a bathroom or changing room with someone who they believe to be a transgender individual. 

The reason we think this bill is violent? It would open transgender people up to criminal penalties, including incarceration – a threat to the economic stability of trans people and their families. We’ve heard that Republicans cannot handle learning about and respecting the diversity of our communities. But that doesn’t give them the right to undermine people’s safety. No one has that right. 

It was a rough week for climate policy. Take a breath of clean air, while we still can. Let’s talk about MEPA. What is it? The Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) has been in Montana law for over 50 years, and it requires that government projects receive environmental reviews to determine any impacts this project may have. 

Yet, we watched senators debate SB 221 from Sen. Trebas, which would significantly limit the environmental analysis under MEPA by narrowly defining what is considered a fossil fuel activity requiring a greenhouse gas emissions analysis. This is exactly what the courts said is inappropriate limitations on MEPA. In a devastating bi-partisan vote of 37-13, this bill passed through the vote on the Senate floor – and will now head to the House. 

A second bill, HB 291, would prohibit the state from regulating greenhouse gas and other air pollutants, unless the federal government does it first. If you didn’t know, our Montana constitution has stronger protections for maintaining a healthy environment. We watched in dismay as Democrats joined Republicans to vote in support of undermining our ability to regulate what pollutants get released into our beautiful Big Sky. HB 291 passed through the House floor and will receive a hearing in the Senate soon. 

In the Senate State Administration, Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy will present on SB 220, which will establish permanent satellite elections offices and enable the use of non-traditional addresses, allowing for more eligible voters on reservations and in rural Native American communities to have equitable access to voting infrastructure.

HB 395, which would undermine the voting rights for individuals with disabilities, brain injuries, or cognitive decline. This bill would disenfranchise thousands of Montana voters. Learn more at Disability Rights Montana. Contact the House State Admin committee and tell them to vote NO on HB 395. 

SB 101, which would undermine the judicial eviction process and allow landlords to call law enforcement to remove a tenant from a property, is still in the House Business and Labor committee. Please contact representatives on that committee and tell them to vote NO on SB 101. 

HB 311 would mandate that landlords and property management companies reimburse rental applications of individuals who didn’t end up receiving a property lease. With rental applications fees adding up to hundreds of dollars, it is time to reimburse applicants. This bill is awaiting a vote in the House Judiciary committee. Message Representatives and tell them to vote YES on HB 311.

HB 83 – PASSED THROUGH SENATE. This bill will establish a special fund for the MMIP task force, ensuring we have more resources to fight the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis. 

HB 288 – TABLED IN COMMITTEE. Even some co-sponsors ended up voting against the bill, once they learned more about the negative impacts. Quite literally titled “Recognize obligation of fatherhood and provide for child support during pregnancy”

SB 146 – TABLED ON SENATE FLOOR. In a squeaker, 26 (of 50) Senators voted against this bad housing policy. 

One of the biggest issues that Montana legislators need to address this session is access to health care. We think everyone should have access to affordable and comprehensive care. But apparently, senators Carl Glimm and Jeremy Trebas strongly disagree. 

Sen. Glimm stood Tuesday on the Senate floor with SB 62 to declare that it is time to phase out Medicaid programs and provide for a soft ‘unwind’ of anyone currently on Medicaid. All for the good of our state budgets, but refused to consider the real economic implications this would have for over 80,000 people in our state. This bill was voted down, 20-30. Phew. 

It was Senator Janet Ellis who stood up on Wednesday and said the quiet part out loud: This bill is actually a backhanded way to put current Medicaid programs at risk – and would undermine their continuation.  

By putting on the record, Sen. Ellis made it clear that a ‘yes’ vote for phasing out Medicaid is a ‘yes’ vote for turning our backs on low- to no-income community members. We were relieved that SB 199 failed – although the vote was closer than we really liked (23-27). 

We are so grateful for Sen. Ellis for standing up for health care access in our communities! 

Rep. Braxton Mitchell had a busy Friday morning. First, in the House Judiciary, he presented on HB 400, which would undermine the ability of public institutions (e.g. schools or agencies) from implementing policies to prevent discrimination against transgender people. 

After taking up too much time debating whether students should be taught kindness and respectful tolerance of others, Rep. Mitchell was late to his next hearing in a different committee. But he seemed unfazed as he introduced this second discriminatory policy – HB 395. 

After listening to personal stories and advocate testimony, Rep. Mitchell dismissed opponents as ‘wrong’ – without having any actual words to back up that assertion. We are disappointed to see Rep. Mitchell using his voice and position of power to push such harmful policies. This is why Rep. Mitchell is our villain of the week. 

As we ask you to continue giving public comment, virtually testifying, calling your legislators, and showing up, remember to take care of yourself. We can’t do this work at 100% all the time so check on your friends, read a book, disconnect for a little bit, take a deep breath. The gross things some legislators say do not reflect what a vast majority of people believe- you belong here, you deserve to be here. See you next week <3 

Join us in Missoula February 9th starting 7PM at 422 W Alder St to decompress, be in community, and talk shit about your legislators all while eating some mouth watering soup. BYOB (bring your own bowl) 

Join us in Bozeman February 10th from 3-4pm at the FMT Office as we chat with two commissioners  who want to hear more from our young community members who are renters! RSVP here.

Join us at the “I❤️the Constitution” Rally on February 13th in Helena at the Capitol Rotunda, where we’ll be coming together to celebrate and protect the core values that uphold our democracy. Go here to learn more and RSVP. 

On February 14 &15, join our partner Catalyst MT at their annual Policy Leadership Institute. The 2-day conference will cover a wide-range of policy issues, and include skill building sessions. Learn more and sign up here!

Montana Republicans cannot let up on their obsession with targeting transgender, nonbinary, and Two Spirit individuals in our communities. After three separate hearings last week on anti-trans bills, we have some updates. And one of them really sucks. 

Next, there is SB 164 (ban care for trans youth). This bill was heard on the Senate Floor on Monday. And while two Republicans voted against it, this wasn’t enough to prevent it moving on to the House Chamber. It will likely have a hearing next week in the House Judiciary. Continue to message and call your House Representative and tell them you expect a NO vote on SB 164. 

Starting with Rep. Howell who pulled at our hearts when talking about the rich diversity of humanity that Republicans are insisting on erasing. Then, Rep. Zephyr spoke of the challenges trans athletes already face – and how bills like this make it harder for all women to participate in sports without discrimination. And finally, Rep. Strand put into words what we are all thinking: why tf are we here debating this, when we need elected officials coming up with solutions to housing, health care, and other actual issues Montanans are facing. 

This bill might be about targeting trans people, but it will lead to irreparable harm to our health care system, as doctor’s may choose to leave Montana rather than practice under this threat. This bill will be heard on the Senate floor next week. Call and message your Senator and tell them to vote NO on SB 218. 

Remember when we enshrined the right to abortion in November 2024? Well some Republicans legislators are set on undoing this monumental vote. 

What a disgusting attempt at government overreach. While HB 316 would require a ⅔ vote to pass through each chamber, this is highly unlikely and demonstrates how this is clearly a waste of our time. 

Please call the Representatives and remind them: Montana communities have spoken on this issue. We will have comprehensive reproductive health care. 

Instead of discussing bills in afternoon committee, the Senate decided on Thursday after regular business to spend over an hour in a heated debate on how best to proceed with the potential ethics violations of one senator – Sen. James Ellsworth (R-Hamilton). He is under immense scrutiny for a decision he made about state funds. The accusation: Sen. Ellsworth used his position of privilege to circumvent proper protocols and give state contracts to a former business associate. 

Ensue meltdown. At one point, Senators got so tangled up in their motions that they had to take a break to read the rules to figure out what they could do next. Tensions continued to build in the debate, with Sen. Fuller personally threatening the entire Senate floor – which he then had to apologize for at the beginning of Friday’s floor session.

Republicans have a majority in the Senate, House, and control of the governor’s office. Yet, they have advanced no policy to address the housing crisis, workforce shortages, or health care access. 

Instead, the bill moving quickest through these chambers is a bill that targets trans people and their ability to safely use public bathrooms, HB 121. 

SB 146 would undermine the ability for cities and counties to pass land-use decisions, like zoning, by setting an impossibly high legal bar. It would also allow for the gutting of thoughtful citizen-led decisions that shaped community land use to address housing issues. SB 146 passed through it’s first committee. It is headed to the Senate Floor next. Call and send messages to every Senator.

What can we say, we love health care! And think everyone in our communities deserves to have access to affordable and comprehensive care. 

Which is why, while we may not agree with this legislator on all his policies, we undoubtedly consider Rep. Ed Buttrey (R-Great Falls) our hero this week for his relentless advocacy to keep Medicaid programs in our state.

Support our Hero by sending a thank you note to all House reps who listened and voted yes for HB 245. The bill needs to make it through one more vote in the House before it can move to the Senate. Get your message in by 1pm on Monday, February 10th.

Learn more about how to support Medicaid programs or share your Medicaid story.

After weeks of watching Senator Barry Usher’s actions as the Chair of the Senate Judiciary, we reached a breaking point this week. 

Within the first hearings of the Senate Judiciary this session, Chair Usher had exerted his power to suppress the Democrat sitting as Vice Chair. 

But his disrespect expands past his legislative colleagues. In the past two weeks, Sen. Usher has decided to use his platform as Chair to target a single trans individual during the debates and votes on anti-trans legislation. 

Finally, this week, he pushed the committee to vote on several bills that had just received a hearing only a couple hours before – giving the committee no time to review submitted public comments or complete additional research and undermining the public engagement process. And for these reasons, Sen. Usher is our villain of the week. 

In Billings at the MetraPark February 1st & 2nd, starting 10am there will be a peaceful protest against the Yellowstone County commissioners’ willingness to use the MetraPark for immigrant detainment

Join us in Missoula February 9th starting 7PM at 422 W Alder St to decompress, be in community, and talk shit about your legislators all while eating some mouth watering soup. BYOB (bring your own bowl) 

Join us at the “I❤️the Constitution” Rally on February 13th in Helena at the Capitol Rotunda, where we’ll be coming together to celebrate and protect the core values that uphold our democracy. Go here to learn more and RSVP. 

On February 14 &15, join our partner Catalyst MT at their annual Policy Leadership Institute. The 2-day conference will cover a wide-range of policy issues, and include skill building sessions. Learn more and sign up here!

If having an anti-trans bill the first week of session wasn’t enough, we’ve spent the fourth week listening to legislators debate three anti-trans policies. Nothing original here. Just the same discriminatory trash we’ve seen in the past – from bathroom bills, to trans youth sports bans. 

SB 164 from Sen. Fuller had its first hearing in the Senate Judiciary committee on Monday. This vile bill, which had similar iterations in 2021 and 2023, is revived to now include the criminalization of doctors who provide gender affirming care to trans youth – as well parents and guardians who support the youth in getting access to this care.  

HB 300 had its first hearing in the House Judiciary committee on Friday. This bill, which we heard in 2021, would ban trans youth from participating in sports and prevent them from using the correct school bathroom. The hearing went off the rails when three conservative legislators became obsessed with discussing the genitalia of children. 🙄

Background: Last session, Montana passed MICWA to protect Native American children from being removed from tribal families and communities. This was huge, because as Indigenous communities in Montana were fighting for MICWA, the national Indian Child Welfare Act was being debated by SCOTUS. What a victory it was to have MICWA enshrined in law by the end of the 2023 session – and be free of the implications of any potential SCOTUS decision. 

We are still hitting refresh on SB 147’s bill status page, but we’re excited to share that SB 182 has received overwhelming support and is headed to the House floor for debate! 

The session has been a shot to the heart – but we are excited to share some exciting progress. 🥳 

First, Rep. Karlen’s bill to establish a housing fairness tax credit (HB 154) has made it out of committee with overwhelming support. Thank you to everyone who submitted comment or called their legislator to make this happen! The bill heads to House Appropriations for a hearing next week.

An update on the climate policy: House Bill 229, which would update Montana’s Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) following the Held v. Montana court ruling is still awaiting a committee vote. There is still time to call or message the House Natural Resource committee and tell them to vote YES on HB 229. 

This would not only make access to abortion illegal, but would interfere with private medical decisions about birth control, access to fertility treatments, management of a miscarriage, and restrict access to emergency contraception. 

HB 316 will be heard in the House Judiciary Hearing committee on Wednesday, February 5th. Committee starts at 8am. Sign up to give testimony or submit public comment to let legislators know that we do not appreciate their continued insistence on restricting our access to reproductive care. 

Last week, we made Sen Webber our hero for her bill to expand K-12 educational programs to support students in identifying and keeping themselves safe from human trafficking (SB 107). Then, we were appalled to see that Senate Republicans chose to ridicule this bill in the floor debate, as they attempted to pass an amendment that would have removed its power. 

Enter Senator Derek Harvey from Butte, America. 

Our endless gratitude for Sen. Harvey, who woke up on Tuesday with the courage to speak in defense of good policy. 

Legislators don’t make it easy to pick one villain. We hear of hateful comments and discriminatory policy proposals throughout our week at the Capitol. But let us tell you why Sen. John Fuller made the cut for our villain of the week. 

Sen. Fuller started the week with his zombie bill, SB 164. Why zombie? Because SB 164 attempts to pass discriminatory legislation has already been ruled unconstitutional. 

If you thought his hatred for youth stopped with trans kids, think again. He presented SB 210 in Senate Education on Thursday. This bill would remove the statutory requirement for the position of a student regent on the board of regents, the governing body of the Montana University System. 

Sen. Fuller seems to base his policy proposals on the idea that youth are not deserving of access to opportunities that could make their lives better. And for this, he has earned this week’s title of Villain.