Author: Dara Deines

Well, we’ve made it. After five long months, a slew of national news headlines, and nearly 800 bills passed, the 68th Montana Legislative Session is finally, blessedly over. So what comes next? 

First, we rest. Then, we continue– with municipal elections this fall, communities to build back up, and rulemaking processes that will determine how these 788 new laws are implemented, there’s a long road ahead of us. We hope you’ll join us.

For this week’s wrap-up edition of What the Helena, we decided to focus less on the nuts and bolts of policy change (although that’s in here, too) and more on our advocacy team’s experience watching the legislative session unfold. In a system that can feel so dehumanizing, it feels more important than ever to bring everything back to what ought to matter most: the people of Montana. So, here it is: sine die!

Queer & Trans Rights

I came into this session knowing very little about how the legislature works, and with, admittedly, very little faith in the legislature’s ability to enact much positive change for people in Montana.  I think I only vaguely knew that these people were actively making the laws, and I had this idea that bills proposed were written by experts.  I was baffled by the hilarious amount of ineptitude present in that building, as well as the amount of bills that seemed very clearly motivated by personal beefs and beliefs.  It was kind of shocking to continuously witness lawmakers demonstrate their willful ignorance, disregard for truth, and lack of interest in actually reading the bills that they sponsor. 

I came into this session fearing that it would make me jaded and bitter about organizing, that I would end the session feeling spent and confused.  There were certainly months where the transphobic rhetoric and unwillingness to recognize the humanity of trans people brought me to unprecedented levels of depression and despair, and I have become even more firm in my belief that the state will not, and cannot, liberate us. The system isn’t broken – it is a vice, a mechanism of control that is tightened by fear.  All six of the anti-trans & queer bills that we tracked diligently throughout this session have passed through both chambers, and SB 99, the bill banning gender-affirming care for minors, has been signed into law.  Lawmakers have ignored the pleas of the queer community and the testimony of medical experts in order to define intersex and transgender people out of law (SB 458), allow medical providers to discriminate on the basis of “ethics” (HB 303), allow students to bully their trans peers (HB 361), and characterize drag as inherently sexual and inappropriate for minors (HB 359).  We’re gonna take HB 234 as a win, because even though it did pass, the amended version has been defanged and can no longer be construed to automatically ban queer content from schools.  But still, the vice tightens on the queer and trans community. 

To me, the passage of these bills demonstrates the fear that these legislators hold, not just of trans people, but what we represent. What power do we hold that is so threatening to them?  The vice tightens but we are liquid, we shapeshift, we are expert escapologists – no matter how hard they try, they cannot crush us out of existence. We are creating worlds where colonial constructs, capitalist greed, white supremacy, and an angry god do not dictate law; we are creating worlds where the bases of their power are null – and that scares the SHIT out of the Regiers of this world.

It makes sense – I’m scared too. Sometimes the vice feels like a cradle, but it is still a vice, and my brown, trans body lusts for a new world. These last two weeks have made it clear that now is the time to transform.  Witnessing the trust, love, and sheer numbers of the queer and trans community has lifted me to a place I did not know existed. I have been revitalized by the sheer power of community, by the magic that trans and queer people hold, and I am ready to do what must be done. The portal has opened, this world is just starting her transition and we are ready to support her the whole way.  

Chloe Runs Behind (they/them), Issue Advocacy Organizer

Climate Justice

I have often said during this session that I came into it with a 5th grade level understanding of how the legislative process works; vaguely knew some of how bills become laws, knew that we elected folks to do something in relation to the bills, but that’s about it. When I learned Montana has a citizen legislature, I found some of my general political cynicism fading a bit; after all, if most of them are everyday Montanans, surely they’ll be better at listening to the rest of us, even with the ominous label of “supermajority” hanging over things, right?

Wrong, so very wrong. I will say, there were some amazing heroes along the way, trying their best to get legislation through that actually addressed the real concerns Montanans face: inflation in everything except wages, climate crises, housing insecurity, access to healthcare, supporting basic human rights, and more. 

However, the vast majority of legislators showed time and again that they were not listening, instead focusing on their own agendas and ignoring their constituents. So many folks showed up in opposition to the bills that attack climate justice and our rights to clean air and water, including HB 170, HB 971, SB 208, and SB 228. From repealing Montana’s energy policy and attacking a court decision that tries to make projects consider climate impacts, to banning the ability of local control over both limiting energy choices and the location of oil and petroleum plants, and more. 

This was so disheartening, to watch over and over again as they continually ignored both protocol and everyday Montanans in favor of big businesses or hateful out-of-state agendas. But y’all, we SHOWED UP ANYWAY – Working together with our neighbors towards the things that matter, as corny as that sounds, is what will make the difference towards creating change for our collective good.  In doing this work with everyday Montanans, y’all have taught me so much about community and how at the end of the day we need to take care of each other in the face of all this BS. We can do this together.

-Kat Elam, Billings Issue Advocacy Organizer

Democracy

It’s challenging to stay positive about the state of democracy in Montana after this year’s session, but for old time’s sake we should remember everything that happened over the last few months. At least in terms of legislation, things didn’t go that bad this session for democracy? The Governor signed SB 77, a really important bill that ends prison gerrymandering in Montana by counting inmates where their last address was rather than inflating the population of the towns they’re incarcerated. However, the heavily gerrymandered, Republican-tilted Public Service Commission map was also enacted when SB 109 was passed. SB 93is also a crummy limitation on the right of citizens to directly participate in democracy by passing ballot initiatives, as it requires a $3,700 fee to get one on the ballot and allows the Secretary of State or Attorney General to reject the initiative before it even makes its way before voters.

But, compare this to all of the anti-democracy bills that didn’t get passed! Bills that would restrict Montanans’ freedom to vote for whomever they want in primaries (SB 484, SB 565, and SB 566), make our judiciary partisan or outright eliminate court elections (HB 464, HB 595, HB 915, SB 302, SB 311, SB 372), eliminate other nonpartisan elections (SB 200, SB 317), or otherwise overcomplicate election procedures (SB 433, SB 435, SB 441).

While celebrating all of these huge pro-democracy victories is certainly in order, the flagrant violations of constitutional principles in the name of decorum is a disheartening attack on democracy. Montanans have the inalienable right to defend our lives and liberties, and our government is derived from the power of the people. Yet, the Republican supermajority has continually shown that they do not care that our state was so conceived and so dedicated. Expelling a duly elected member for utilizing an apparently insulting rhetorical device and depriving 11,000 Montanans from having a voice in Helena is blatantly discriminatory and should be offensive to anyone who cares about democracy. But it doesn’t stop there – Republicans have scheduled bills to prevent public participation in the legislative process (see the rushing of HB 971 through the Legislature with two weeks left in the session for proof of this), closed off the People’s House to the public, and clamped down on press freedom. 

In light of this, I’m left conflicted about how to feel going forward. On the one hand, I think putting my hopes in the two-party system to pull our state out of this tailspin is wishful thinking. Yet, we still have a great task remaining before us – to shape Montana into a place we want it to be. We showed up throughout the legislative session and made our voices heard, but I choose to remain cautiously optimistic that all this work and effort was not in vain. We did get some wins, after all! I truly believe that we all have the capability to contribute towards a brighter future for this state, and I hope you feel the same.

Zach Mangels (he/him), Legislative Fellow

Affordable Housing

Working on housing this session was a massive lesson in sitting with contradiction. Landlords passed bills to further tip the scales in their own favor (like HB 282 and HB 283), legislation to help bolster tenants’ rights (HB 785) and invest in affordable housing (HB 574) floundered, and Montana took huge strides forward in putting an end to racist, classist zoning policies that have bogged down our cities for decades (SB 323, SB 245, SB 382). All of this is true. 

As an effect of my excitement about zoning reforms that could have huge impacts on Montanans’ ability to live and thrive in this state, I often found myself testifying and lobbying in support of bills sponsored by Republican legislators who do not think that I, a trans person, should have the right to exist. 

One of the most exciting zoning bills of the session, SB 323, requires municipalities of more than 5,000 people to allow duplexes anywhere a single-family home can be built (extending to fourplexes in cities larger than 50,000 people). An extremely similar bill died last session when sponsored by Democrat Danny Tenenbaum, but sailed through with bipartisan support this session under Republican Senator Jeremy Trebas’s wing. Over the last several months (and increasingly toward the end of the session), Trebas has spent his free time bullying, misgendering, and harassing my friends and my legislator on the internet. 

It can be hard to focus on something like wonky zoning policy when the state is actively trying to eliminate people like you from society, but the session always asks us to do hard things. I feel excited about the zoning reform policies we were able to help usher through the legislature, and proud of the rooms I was able to get into. Montana has become a national leader on statewide zoning reform, and I’m hopeful that these new policies will help our cities meet the moment and take steps to resolve our state’s ongoing housing crisis. 

However, I also understand now more than ever that our current political system does not allow for us to approach this work in our full humanity. It asks us to choose between our personal truths and our political goals. It forces us to leave ourselves at the door, to equivocate, to cater to the norms and structures of white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism. But I also understand more than ever that as young people, as queer people, as trans people, my community has a unique ability to see the world for what it could be– to recognize that the future doesn’t have to look like the present. And this community has only gotten stronger, more powerful, and more connected over the last five months. I have a lot of hope for the future of Montana; I hope you’ll stick around for the ride. 

–Izzy Milch (they/them), Senior Advocacy Manager

Well friends, we’re limping along and almost to the finish line of this very brutal legislative session! Through all the good news and bad, we’re grateful for you – your participation, questions, thoughts, ideas, and general existence bring us such joy. This week has been quite the doozy, but so many folks have shown up in so many ways, giving us those little heart-warming feels to help us keep going. Remember to take care of yourself, so we can continue taking care of each other ♥️ 

Calls to Action:
???? Veto Edition ???? 

We’ve officially reached the point in the legislative session where plenty of bills we’ve been watching have passed through the legislature and are now awaiting Governor Gianforte’s signature. You know what that means? A new phone number to call! Here are just a few of the no-good bills currently waiting to be signed into law. Ask the Governor to veto these bills by calling 406-444-3111 or filling out this form.

“With Pride and Determination”

If you’ve been following the news this week, you already know that the Montana Freedom Caucus, Rep. Matt Regier, and essentially the entire Republican party have been doing everything they can to prevent Rep. Zooey Zephyr from speaking on the House floor. 

It all hit a boiling point after Rep. Zephyr closed her statement on SB 99, the gender affirming care ban, by saying “I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”

Now, Rep. Regier, who serves as the Speaker of the House, has indicated that he will not let Rep. Zephyr speak until she apologizes for speaking the truth about the impacts of these policies. She, in return, has indicated that she has no intention of doing so. You can read her statements in response to all of this on her Twitter. 

Let’s be clear: Rep. Zephyr is much more than the first trans woman in the Montana legislature, although that identity is certainly central to her censorship. She is also a fierce advocate for renters, a staunchly principled politician, and a thoughtful, kind person. She represents 11,000 Montanans whose voice in the House is now being denied to them. We won’t mince words: this is a fascist tactic to silence the voice of a duly elected representative, as well as the voters who sent her to Helena. 

Rep. Zephyr has made it clear that she will continue to advocate for trans Montanans and all of her constituents “with pride and determination.” We are behind her all the way. If you’re itching to give the people behind this censorship a piece of your mind, give Rep. Matt Regier, Speaker of the House, a call at 406-253-3293. 

Ch-ch-changes!

Even with just a couple weeks left in the session, there continue to be surprises around every corner. Remember HB 234, the bill that would ban “obscene” materials from schoolsand HB 359, the bill that would censor drag (and also just threaten the very existence of trans and GNC people)? Well, both of these bills have undergone some major makeovers in the Senate thanks to Sen. Dan Salomon and Sen. Chris Friedel, respectively.  

It seems like some folks have realized that criminalizing teachers for doing their jobs is actually a terrible idea, and the amended HB 234 removes schools, libraries, and museums from the section of criminal code that the original bill tried to twist against these institutions. Now the main purpose of this bill is to allow school districts to adopt ordinances, resolutions, or policies that are more restrictive than the definition of obscenity, which at least brings control back to local school districts. You can read the amended bill here!

HB 359, titled, “Prohibit minors from attending drag shows”, no longer contains the word “drag” in the text at all, and instead focuses on prohibiting minors from attending “adult-oriented shows” or entering “adult oriented businesses,” (things that minors are already not permitted to do) and defining what those two terms mean.  You can read this new version here!

Both of these amended bills have passed in the Senate, which means that they must now go back to the House to be voted on again. If one or both of these bills as amended are voted down in the House, it’ll go to a conference committee made up of House and Senate members. This committee will work to reconcile the differences between the bill that originally passed in the House and the amended bill that made it back to that chamber.  

Hero of the Week-

Sen. Ryan Lynch (D) Butte

Our hero, Sen. Ryan Lynch of Butte, has played a major role in securing some key pieces of legislation to reform our state’s criminal justice system! This week, the legislature debated Lynch’s SB 89, which creates a pretrial diversion pilot program as an alternative to unnecessarily incarcerating individuals with substance abuse disorders who have been charged with non-violent drug offenses. These interventions help to turn around mass incarceration by increasing the availability of treatment options, and are effective at reducing recidivism. 

Sen. Lynch also sponsored SB 166, which exempts barber services in correctional facilities from licensing requirements. Like Rep. Frazer’s dog training bill from last week, SB 166 recognizes the humanity of incarcerated people and is a step toward ensuring a better quality of life for Montanans in correctional facilities. Since the beginning of the session, when Sen. Lynch sponsored a (now-tabled) bill to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips, he has shown a staunch commitment to reducing harm and reforming inhumane systems. It can’t get much more heroic than that!

Villain of the Week-
Rep. Josh Kassmier (R) Fort Benton 

Our villain this week is Rep. Josh Kassmier of Fort Benton for sponsoring a frustrating and backwards bill under very shady circumstances.HB 971 undermines the protections of the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). It would allow state Department of Environmental Quality projects, which are required to get permitting through MEPA for air pollution, mining, and more, to forgo those rules entirely if the Montana Supreme Court requires them to consider projects’ climate change impacts on our Constitutional right to clean air and water.  Bizarre, right?!

This bill is clearly intended to benefit one monopoly corporation (*cough, cough* NorthWestern Energy *cough, cough*), and to circumvent one court ruling from this month that revoked NWE’s permit to construct a new gas plant in Laurel. 

Additionally, the process by which this bill was introduced and scheduled far past the deadline was deeply anti-democratic: suspending the rules, crunching the timeline, and giving very little notice for concerned constituents to come and state their opposition. Par for the course of this session, it’s clear that many of our representatives are prioritizing further reliance on fossil fuels that will come at great physical, financial, and environmental cost to Montanans, and like salting a wound, they are breaking all the rules to do it. 

Rep. Kassmier, none of this is what the people of Montana sent you here to do. However, despite the last-minute scheduling of the hearing, y’all stepped up to declare your opposition: in total, 572 opponents either signed up to testify or sent in public comment!  The bill did pass through the committee and is on track to coast through the House, so now it’s time to let your Senator know how you feel about your right to clean air and water: tell them to vote NO on HB 971!

Have you heard the latest episodes of our podcast? Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Has this year’s legislative session left you feeling discombobulated? Befuddled? Frazzled? Perhaps even perplexed? Well there’s a good reason for that – this year legislators have introduced the most bills since 1973, which is when Montana law had to undergo a massive overhaul to incorporate our brand-new Constitution! As we get into the closing few weeks of this session, please remember to take some time for yourselves. But for now, enjoy yet another edition of What the Helena!

Calls to Action

HB 889 would create protections for mobile home residents, including setting year-long (instead of month-to-month) leases as the default, mandating landlords to provide 60-day notice before they change or end a lease, and preventing landlords from retaliating against residents who speak up about park issues. Tell your Senator to vote YES on this step towards addressing Montana’s housing crisis.

SB 109 draws a highly partisan, gerrymandered map for the Public Service Commission’s districts. The PSC oversees Montana’s utilities, including NorthWestern Energy; it’s crucial that these districts are representative of Montana’s communities, not one political party. Tell your Representative to vote NO on SB 109.

SB 458 defines ‘sex’ in Montana law in a way that erases intersex people, prevents individuals from filling out & receiving legal documents in alignment with the gender they live as, collapses the umbrella of ‘sex-based discrimination’ to no longer include sexual or gender minorities or pregnant people as protected classes, and could cost taxpayers up to $7.5 billion to implement. Tell your Representative to vote NO on SB 458.

Housing: Good, Bad, Ugly

This week, a handful of zoning reform bills we’ve been excited to support were voted on in the House. First, a quick breakdown of each bill:

All three of these reforms passed the House with incredible bipartisan support, and will now head to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law. As if that’s not enough good news…

SB 268, which would have significantly impeded local governments’ ability to regulate short-term rentals (like Airbnb) was resoundingly rejected by the House, with just 27 of the 100 Representatives voting in favor of the bill. This is an absolutely crucial step toward ensuring the new development options opened up by the suite of zoning reforms are used to house Montanans, not for wealthy developers and out-of-state investors to make a quick buck. 

While we’re on the topic of housing, we’d be remiss not to inform you that Rep. Zooey Zephyr’s HB 785 was tabled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill would have required landlords to give tenants 60 days notice when terminating or changing their lease, and we’re beyond bummed to see it go down. Not only that, but the process was sneaky AF: the committee voted on the bill without notice or debate. You just might see this committee’s chair later on in this newsletter…

A debunked definition

Senate Bill 458 was heard for the last time in committee, to an uproar of opponent testimony, citing the immeasurable impacts that this bill would have on the intersex, transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit Montanans who this bill would define out of law.  Opponents cited factual, legal, and budgetary issues (SB 458 has estimated potential costs of 7.5 billion dollars – half of Montana’s budget!) with the bill while uplifting the strength and resilience of the trans community. Bill Sponsor Sen. Carl Glimm and the House Judiciary Committee were urged to consider whether the harmful impacts of SB 458 are worth inserting a biologically inaccurate definition of sex into the Montana Legal Code. 

Some members of the committee raised questions concerning some of the unsettling and harmful pieces of the bill, while others made unsuccessful attempts at “gotcha” questions (did you know that the existence of bisexuality is proof that there are only two sexes? Apparently Rep. Caleb Hinkle thinks so…) This is another bill that, regrettably, the sponsor appears not to be fully aware of the contents and repercussions of. Even after we heard from a great deal of varied and well-informed testimony, Senator Carl Glimm still wouldn’t admit that his bill would have any negative consequences. 

No matter how this bill turns out, opponents of SB 458 have done a very thorough job of debunking the definition that it aims to insert, and if the committee votes for this bill, they should be well aware that they are voting to codify biologically inaccurate language. We’ll keep you updated!

Cutting off CoreCivic

We are super relieved to let you know that Montana taxpayers will not be paying nearly $8 million over the next two years to send 120 incarcerated Montanans to a for-profit prison in Arizona. Wait… what??! Yup, an expanded contract with CoreCivic, a private prison giant, was added to the state budget mid-March, much to our dismay. 

However, this amendment has recently been removed from the budget, thanks to a counter-amendment from Sen. Ellie Boldman. Instead of paying $8 million for a temporary “quick fix” for overcrowding, lawmakers are instead working to increase bed space in-state, so those 120 people can remain in Montana, where their friends and family members are still able to visit them and help them re-enter society once they are released. Next step – fully ending Montana’s contract with this truly evil company.

Hero of the Week – Rep. Jonathan Karlen (D- Missoula)

You may have heard this rumor swirling around, that Montana might just be in the middle of what some would call a housing crisis. This week we want to congratulate our hero, Rep. Jonathan Karlen of Missoula, for introducing a bill that would create protections for some of the most vulnerable Montanans in the housing crisis: mobile home residents. HB 889 addresses a worrying trend we have seen in the past few years, where out-of-state investors purchase Montana’s mobile home parks and try to squeeze every penny out of their residents by raising rents, fees, and cutting maintenance. HB 889 does many things that would help alleviate this crisis, with some highlights including: 

While we agree with Rep. George Nikolakakos (R – Great Falls), who stated in the bill’s committee hearing last Wednesday that HB 889 “is just a first step” in creating all the protections Montana’s mobile home residents need, it is still a critical step to take. HB 889 has already passed the House and its Senate Committee with bipartisan support, so tell your Senator to vote YES on HB 889.

Villain of the Week – Sen. Keith Regier (R- Kalispell)

Our villain this week, Sen. Keith Regier of Kalispell, seems to be the walking definition of “doesn’t play well with others”. One of his bills, SB 109 (the one about drawing new PSC districts) was heard in the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations committee on April 7th. To review, the PSC, or Public Service Commission, is a group of elected Montanans whose job it is to regulate the utility companies of Montana, like the monopoly that is NorthWestern Energy. Follow this link to learn more about the PSC!

During the hearing, there were 3 different amended maps proposed that nearly stuck to Regier’s espoused reasonings for his map: cities can benefit from being split, legislative district lines should be used to make these maps, and districts should be balanced in population distribution (his was actually the least balanced).  Rep. Derek Harvey of Butte, one of those who proposed a different map, mentioned in the hearing that Sen. Regier has not responded to anyone wanting to work with him on modifying his proposed (and very gerrymandered) redistricting map. 
Regier himself had no questions or comments during the hearing, and yet one by one, each amended map proposal was shot down. Gerrymandering and not cooperating with fellow legislators to best serve your constituents? That’s villainous behavior in our book! Ask your Representative to vote NO on SB 109 as it currently stands.

???? Calls to Action ????

⚖️ SB 566 would create a brand new top-two primary procedure for next year’s US Senate election (and only that election), where only the two largest vote-getters in the June primary election move on to the November general election. This would almost certainly block any third-party candidate from appearing on the general election ballot, chipping away at the rights of both voters and candidates to participate meaningfully in our elections.  Tell your Representative and the House State Administration Committee to vote NO on this last-minute, undemocratic bill.

????️‍⚧️ HB 359 would ban “male or female impersonators” from any space where children might be present. HB 359 could have incredibly harmful impacts on the trans community, and relies on assumptions that trans and queer people are inherently predatory in order to censor and stigmatize an expansive, varied, culturally important art form.  What a drag… Tell your Senator to vote NO on HB 359.

???? HB 234 is a pro-censorship bill that would make book bans easier, and threaten teachers and school librarians with criminal penalties for doing their jobs. You can contact your Senator using this form to let them know that censorship through criminal penalties for teachers and librarians has no place in Montana.

???? HB 941 is an act to “establish a dog training and socialization program in the state prison or any other state-owned or contracted prison facility.” As Rep. Frazer mentioned, this is a “win-win-win” piece of legislation; in his closing, he said “We have a duty to try to do as much as we possibly can to help out our communities, which includes providing … [what] positive beneficial services we can at our correctional facilities.” HB 941, a lovely pup of tea, has passed to the Senate and will be heard on April 14 in the Senate Local Government Committee. Let your Senator and the Local Government Committee know that you dog-gone love HB 941!

???? SB 518 wouldstrip away students’ rights to privacy, education, and even medical care under the guise of securing “parental rights” in education.  We believe that young people’s rights are more important than their parents’ desire to control them, that queer kids deserve safe environments to explore their identities, and that our schools are equipped to govern themselves. If you agree, ask the House Judiciary Committee and your Representative to vote NO on SB 518.

Much Ado About Nothing? 

This week, the legislature passed a big deadline: Monday was the final day for Constitutional amendments, resolutions, and revenue bills to pass out of their first chamber. With this deadline came some surprises: it looks like, barring some unlikely but not impossible votes, almost every Constitutional amendment proposed this session might go down. This is huge news, especially since Constitutional changes were one of the biggest concerns for lots of folks heading into the session. It’s also reflective of what Montana voters want; according to a recent poll, just 15% of Montana voters support changing our Constitution.

Only one amendment, Sen. Ken Bogner’s proposal to provide for a mental health trust fund in the Montana Constitution, garnered more than enough bipartisan support in its first chamber to bolster its odds of making it across the finish line. Whether the proposal will gain support from voters in the 2024 election is anyone’s guess. 

As a reminder, in order to make it out of the legislature and onto the ballot, Constitutional amendments have to break 100 votes across the House and Senate. Every amendment still moving was sponsored by a Republican, whose party holds 68 seats in the House and 34 in the Senate, for a total of 102. That means that, in order for these proposals to pass out of the legislature, Republicans would have to hold a pretty tight party line. That didn’t happen this week: with the exception of SB 563, Bogner’s mental health trust fund, every proposed amendment received at least 3 party-breaking “no” votes. Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the proposed amendments and their votes:

HB 915would take away Montanans’ ability to vote in Supreme Court elections, instead giving the Governor power to appoint justices. Its final vote in the House this week was 59-39, meaning it faces a steep but not impossible road to get the support it would need to make it across the 100 vote threshold.

HB 517would chip away at the powers of the Board of Regents, the primary governing body for Montana’s universities. The Board of Regents exists to ensure that universities aren’t beholden to the political whims of the season, and this bill seems like a pretty clear response to their challenge of bills like HB 102 from the 2021 session that overstepped the legislature’s powers to regulate campus activity. This one passed the House with a 61-37 vote, meaning that to make it onto the ballot, it would need to get 39 votes in the Senate.

The Montana Constitution secures the right to bear arms, but specifies that it does not protect concealed carry. HB 551would change that, creating Constitutional protections for Montanans to carry concealed weapons.

In the midst of massive, youth-led demands for stricter gun laws, gun-loving Montana Representatives passed this measure on a 65-33 vote, making it the most likely to reach 100 votes across chambers. Still, for that to happen, Senate Republicans would have to vote as a unified block and pull over at least one Democratic Senator, so we’re hopeful this one will go down, too.

Remember, even if the legislature passes a Constitutional amendment, the people of Montana then have to approve that amendment before it becomes part of our Constitution.

Testing…

Our villain from two weeks ago, Sen. Greg Hertz, is still up to no good! He’s decided thatnow is the time to experiment with how Montanans vote– in one specific election, in one specific year. Sen. Hertz has introduced SB 566, which would create a brand new top two primary procedure for next year’s US Senate election, where only the two largest vote-getters in the June primary election move on to the November general election. 

This Republican-backed procedure is being introduced when, all too coincidentally, Montana’s only state-wide Democratic office holder is up for re-election! In another shocking coincidence, this primary system only applies to that person’s election! Not only that, but this bill is only in law for the election for 2024, and not any other Senate election in the future!

Supposedly, this is so the Legislature can “determine future applicability of the top two primary.” In practice, this would almost certainly block a Green Party, Libertarian, or Independent candidate from appearing on the general election ballot, chipping away at the rights of both voters and candidates to participate meaningfully in our elections. 

Rather than allowing Montanans to have the freedom to vote for whichever qualified Senate candidate they want, Sen. Hertz wants to rig the system and limit our right to choose whoever we want on the ballot. This bill passed the Senate last Tuesday, and will likely be heard in committee soon. Tell your Representative to vote NO on this last-minute, undemocratic bill.

Voting Victories​

This week a bill sponsored by Sen. Shane Morigeau that would improve equal representation in Montana passed the Legislature! SB 77 would end prison gerrymandering in the state by counting incarcerated people towards the population of the community they last lived in when redistricting happens. This would be a big change to the system used prior to the 2020 redistricting, where prisoners were counted towards the population of where the prison is located. This has the effect of inflating the population of these locations with people who cannot participate in the political process. 

This change is important not only because it ensures more accurate representation in our electoral landscape, but also because census counts impact the funding a community receives over the next ten years. We know that people living in under-resourced communities are more likely to be criminalized, making this funding all the more crucial when attempting to right some of the systemic wrongs perpetuated by the prison industrial complex. The state’s redistricting commission used the process laid out in SB 77 to draw our newest legislative maps following the 2020 Census, and we’re thrilled to see this bill ensure that it continues into the future!

SB 77 is waiting to be signed into law by the Governor, so until then you can let him know that you support this great bill!

Sailing Away on the Censor-Ship

HB 359, the bill that would ban “male or female impersonators” from any space where children might be present was heard in committee on Tuesday, where it was met with a flood of dissent from Montanans protecting freedom of expression and the rights of trans people to exist in public spaces. The bill’s sponsor, Braxton Mitchell, when being questioned, had to continuously rely on misreading his own bill in order to avoid acknowledging the bill’s overly broad (and therefore unenforceable) nature.  

He also closed on his bill by suggesting that none of the opponents in the room had jobs. All ridiculousness aside, HB 359 could have incredibly harmful impacts on the trans community, and relies on assumptions that trans and queer people are inherently predatory in order to censor and stigmatize an expansive, varied, culturally important art form.  What a drag… Tell your Senator to vote NO on HB 359.

Another *obscene* attempt to censor queer art, HB 234, would make book bans easier by threat of criminal penalties against teachers and school librarians who are acting “in accordance with policies approved by the governing body of the institution.” Basically, public employees could go to jail for literally doing their jobs – all because a national panic has been stirred up about one specific book that no elementary or middle school library in Montana even owns, and that can’t even be banned based on the Constitutional requirement for obscenity. 

You can contact your Senator using this form to let them know that censorship through criminal penalties for teachers and librarians has no place in Montana.

Hero of the Week-  Rep. Gregory Frazer
HD 78 – (R) Deer Lodge

Woof, what a session! Our hero of the week is a real diamond in the ruff: Representative Gregory Frazer of Deer Lodge for his paw-sitively wonderful HB 941, an act to “Establish a dog training and socialization program in the state prison or any other state-owned or contracted prison facility.”  

We Shih-Tzu not, this bill generated so much barking; there was more debate on this bill than on any of the constitutional amendments that were voted on this week. Listening to this House session gave us big smiles as several folks pointed out the benefits for everyone involved: the folks in prison, the families whose dogs get the training, and the pups themselves of course! Also, this program is not new, even in Montana– the Montana Women’s Prison in Billings also has a successful Prison Paws program, which Rep. Jodee Etchart said during the floor session has “literally changed these womens’ lives.”

As Rep. Frazer mentioned, this is a “win-win-win” piece of legislation; in his closing, he said “We have a duty to try to do as much as we possibly can to help out our communities, which includes providing … [what] positive beneficial services we can at our correctional facilities.” We appreciate Rep. Frazer’s recognition that, surprise surprise, folks in prison are still people and are deserving of care and consideration.  

We thank Rep. Frazer for presenting this bill, paws-ibly our favorite of the whole session! HB 941, a lovely pup of tea, has passed to the Senate and will be heard on April 14 in the Senate Local Government Committee. Let your Senator and the Local Government Committee know that you dog-gone love HB 941!

Tired of legislators barking up the wrong tree? Time to hound them – check out our Calls to Action at the top of the newsletter, spread the word, and send messages when you can!

Villain of the Week- Sen. Theresa Manzella
SD 44 – (R) Hamilton

Our villain this week is Senator Theresa Manzella of Hamilton, who has been girlbossing (derogatory) and gaslighting her way through her fifth legislative session, and whose so-called “parental rights” bills, SB 518 and SB 337, we find particularly villainous. Manzella seems to be very committed to stripping away students’ rights to privacy, education, and even medical care, and isn’t worried about breaking a rule or two to get what she wants.  

At the beginning of the session, Sen. Manzella sponsored SB 337, a bill intended to grant parents an all-seeing eye into and vice-like grip over every educational activity, extracurricular, and physical and mental health care that their child participates in. SB 337 also specified that written consent from the parent would be required before a student could use a name other than their legal name or pronoun that does not “align with the child’s sex”, while also throwing in immunity for misgendering students that use different pronouns. Thankfully, this unhinged bill was voted down on the Senate floor at the beginning of March…. 

But Theresa didn’t stop there! Just 18 days later, she introduced SB 518, basically the same bill,  designed to accomplish the exact same purposes as SB 337 – which is very clearly prohibited in the Rules of the Montana Legislature (p. 25). 

For many students, school is the only place where they can get away from their overbearing, unsupportive, or even abusive parents. Sen. Manzella’s bill would create huge barriers for any child seeking someone safe to confide in at school, an environment where they can freely learn about topics their parents have sheltered them from, or a place to try out a new name or pronouns without being forced to come out to their parents and face the sadly, very common safety risks of coming out.  

Senator Manzella, children are people too!  We believe that young people’s rights are more important than their parents’ desire to control them, and we also think that the state has no place legislating familial trust issues. 

 We hope that SB 518, just like SB 337, dies, too, and you can send a message to the House Judiciary Committee letting them know how you feel about Manzella’s bill (and rule-breaking).

Constitutional Changes & Another Zombie Bill

???? Calls to Action ????

⚖️ HB 915 proposes a Constitutional amendment that would replace our Supreme Court justice elections with a system where the Governor appoints new justices, needlessly injecting partisan politics into the courts. Tell your Representative you want to be able to elect your Supreme Court justice, and to vote NO on HB 915.

????️‍⚧️ HB 361 would perpetuate hostile school environments for transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit students by preventing any disciplinary action from being taken against students who refuse to use the correct name or pronouns for their classmates. Let’s stop this bill in the Senate – send a message to your Senator and urge them to vote NO on HB 361. 

⚕️ HB 303 would give anyone involved in providing health care services sweeping permissions to discriminate against patients, restricting access to medical services with little regard for the rights and needs of people seeking care.  Send a message to your Senator asking them to stand up for patients’ rights and vote NO on HB 303.

HB 625 is a zombified version of LR-131, a measure that Montana voters rejected just this November. Tell the Senate Judiciary committee to respect the will of those who elected them, and vote NO on HB 625.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Ready for some positivity? This week we testified in support of SB 532 from Sen. Mary Ann Dunwell of Helena, a bill to establish the Montana Climate Action Act! This bill would establish a carbon tax on any company that emits more than 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon and other greenhouse gasses each year. 

This bill shifts the physical price of pollution to those emitting it, incentivizing them to reduce those emissions, which then lessens harmful effects on folks in the forms of diseases like COPD, pneumonia, and so much more. It would also greatly benefit the beautiful habitats and incredible wildlife across this state that we are lucky to see and care for– and which tourists pay big bucks to visit.

Carbon taxes have been around across the US and the globe for over 15 years. It’s not a new concept, which means there’s a lot of research into the pros and cons. The tax implemented by SB 532 is low on the companies, starting at $10 per metric ton and increasing annually by $1 per metric ton, plus the rate of inflation, and they would receive help from the DEQ in planning the processes to reduce their carbon emissions!

This tax would also generate much revenue for the people who live and work and thrive in Montana. It is clear that this bill has had much thought put into it, and we’re grateful to Senator Dunwell for bringing it forward. Unfortunately, SB 532 was tabled in committee.

Constitutional Corner

We’re fast approaching the deadline for legislators to propose constitutional amendments, and they’re coming fast and furious. We’ve done our best to make some sense of this flurry of bills:

SB 272, introduced by Sen. Theresa Manzella of Hamilton, expands the powers of county sheriffs. This proposal has several major issues: it says that “historical powers of the sheriff may not be withdrawn, transferred from, or delegated to any person or entity outside the control of the sheriff.” This raises all kinds of complicated jurisdictional questions, especially for cases on tribal lands that could require involvement from tribal and federal law enforcement. 

These ideas are part of the constitutional sheriff movement, which you can read more about in this article from the Southern Poverty Law Center. This proposed amendment would give someone who just has to be “a qualified elector” with no prior legal training or experience the power to treat a county like their personal fiefdom, an idea that is incredibly dangerous for all Montanans. 

HB 895, introduced by Rep. Paul Green of Hardin, would alter our nonpartisan method of changing legislative district boundaries. This amendment changes the redistricting process by mandating the Legislature’s approval of the redistricting commission’s changes (without specifying what constitutes “approval”), rather than the current process where the Legislature gives the commission recommendations for changes that they can then consider and vote on.

This proposal would change the balance of redistricting in our state, in favor of prioritizing partisan pleas rather than creating districts that equally represent Montana. Redistricting must remain independent in Montana because when legislatures control redistricting they can use this power to serve their own political interests, rather than the interests of the people. Tell the House Judiciary Committee to vote NO on HB 895.

You thought we were done telling you about all the ways members of the Legislature want to change Montana’s judicial system? Think again! Rep. Bill Mercer of Billings has introduced HB 915, an amendment which would replace our Supreme Court justice elections with a system where the Governor appoints new justices. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Montana’s nonpartisan judicial branch of government is essential for ensuring our state has a fair court system.

Proposals like these are not fixing a problem that really exists in our state; all they do is inject needless partisan politics into the courts. Tell your Representative you want to be able to elect your Supreme Court justice, and to vote NO on HB 915.

Updates

HB 361, Rep. Brandon Ler’s bill that would perpetuate hostile school environments for transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit students by preventing any disciplinary action from being taken against students who refuse to use the correct name or pronouns for their classmates, was heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.

The sponsor’s justification for this blatantly transphobic bill was (surprise!) blatant transphobia. Basically, he argued that students shouldn’t have to respect trans people’s names or pronouns because children have a right to deny the existence of trans people. 

Opponents included several trans students and parents of trans children who affirmed that trans people are very real, and that this bill would cause very real harm to students who already struggle to find acceptance and respect for their identities at school. One trans student questioned the sponsor’s intentions, asking, “What do you gain?… Are our lives really less important than passing this unnecessary bill?” 

What we really can’t wrap our heads around is how any of these legislators are still choosing to deny that people are actually trans! And that these real people with real identities (identities that have been around for thousands of years longer than this legislature has been around) deserve respect. 

Let’s stop this bill in the Senate – send a message to your Senator and urge them to vote NO on HB 361. 

HB 303, the so-called “Medical Ethics and Diversity Act” also had a Senate committee hearing on Monday.  Proponents of the bill specifically mentioned both abortion and gender affirming care as services that they don’t want to be forced to provide.  Once again, legal protections already exist for health professionals who choose not to participate in services that they morally object to.  HB 303 would give anyone involved in providing health care services sweeping permissions to discriminate against patients, restricting access to medical services with little regard for the rights and needs of people seeking care.   

Send a message to your Senator asking them to stand up for patients’ rights and vote NO on HB 303.

The hateful array of anti-trans bills moving through the Montana legislature includes HB 361, HB 303, and at least 4 others.  It has been truly heartbreaking to witness this in our state and across the country (currently, the ACLU is tracking 435 anti-LGBTQ bills). For Trans Day of Visibility on Friday, 3/31, we showed up at the Capitol to affirm our right to be trans, take our bodies back, and demonstrate the strength of solidarity amongst allies and members of the trans, non-binary, and Two-Spirit communities.  

We heard from some amazing speakers, including Indigenous trans youth, Keegan Medrano of the ACLU, Rep. Zooey Zephyr, and Hillary-Anne Crosby, before disrupting the capitol with our bodies and voices. For three minutes, we laid in the rotunda, in the middle of the halls where trans lives have been debated, defended, and ignored. 

Together, we must unite in defense of our lives, our bodies, and our autonomy. Through this action, we joyfully proclaimed that our bodies are our own and that our power, together, is stronger than any state.

VILLAIN OF THE WEEK –
Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe (R) Billings

Once again, some of our legislators are showing just how much they’re ignoring everyday Montanans. Our villain this week,  Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe of Billings, is trying to sneakily bring back LR-131 in the form of HB 625, which is deceivingly titled the “Infant Safety and Care Act.”

Y’all may remember that we just voted on LR-131, the so-called “Born-Alive Referendum,” last November, so why do we have so many legislators trying to bring back zombies?

For a quick refresher, you can check out these impactful stories from real Montana families about how LR-131 would have affected them. HB 625, this almost-identical zombified version, would require doctors, under threat of fees and jail time, to provide life-saving care to any infant “born alive…at any stage of development, who… breathes, has a beating heart, or has definite movement of voluntary muscles” even if the infant has no chance of survival due to complications. 

Reviving a policy that was just rejected by the Montana electorate? That’s villainous behavior. If you agree, tell the Senate Judiciary committee to vote NO on HB 625.

HERO OF THE WEEK –
Sen. Jen Gross (D) Billings

If you, like us, have watched what feels like one million hours of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this session, then it’ll come as no surprise that Sen. Jen Gross of Billings is our hero this week. As the session barrels toward the bitter end, this committee has been hearing more than its fair share of highly controversial bills. As the Vice Chair of the committee, Sen. Gross has been a voice of reason through them all. 

During Tuesday’s hearing on HB 721, an inflammatory anti-abortion bill based on disinformation and stigmatization of crucial reproductive healthcare, tensions ran high. When it came time for the committee to ask questions, Senator Emrich started down a line of questioning comparing abortion procedures to satanic rituals. After Democratic Senators Gross and Olsen’s repeated objections were shut down by the Chair, Sen. Gross drew a line: she walked out of the hearing, and Senators Olsen and Webber followed. 

This isn’t the first time Sen. Gross has taken a stand against the disrespect and misinformation that so frequently rear their heads in her committee. From day one, she has spoken out against the rushed decision making, breaches of decorum, and inflammatory statements that have unfortunately become hallmarks of this legislative session. We know that this is extremely difficult work, and we’re grateful to Senator Gross for doing it. 

You can show your support for our Hero by asking your Senator to vote NO on HB 721. When you’re done, drop Sen. Gross a thank you note.

Welcome back, dear readers, to the second half of this whirlwind of a legislative session. We’re officially past the halfway point and back from transmittal break! That means that no more general bills– bills that aren’t related to revenue or Constitutional changes– can be introduced. Now, bills that have already passed in one chamber (the House or the Senate) will move to the other, where there will be one more opportunity for public hearings, so get those testimony muscles warmed up!

This week has brought a handful of eyebrow-raising proposals to change our Constitution (a Constitution that Montanans overwhelmingly want to preserve), and a few of the hottest-button bills from the first half of the session are already scheduled for their second hearings. We’re off to the races! 

If you’re looking for an opportunity to make your voice heard in community, look no further! Forward Montana is hosting weekly Monday night “Write for our Rights” gatherings, where we discuss the bills moving that week and take action together. RSVP here for the Zoom link, and we’ll see you there!

???? Calls to Action ????

????️‍⚧️ SB 99, which would prohibit gender-affirming medical care for minors and prevent public employees from supporting a minor’s social transition, will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday.  Contact the committee and your Representative and urge them to vote NO on this harmful and overreaching bill. 

???? HB 282 strengthens landlords’ powers over tenants to terminate rental agreements and extract an additional three months’ rent from renters in court if the renters are not out by the lease termination date.  Urge your Senator to protect renters, not landlords, during this dire housing crisis, and vote NO on HB 282.

???? HB 517 seeks to restrict the Board of Regents’ Constitutional authority to oversee Montana’s university system– an authority that exists to protect students from political overreach into their education. Ask the House Judiciary Committee to vote NO on HB 517.

⚖️ HB 405 would allow for tiny portions of a county’s population to call for a citizens’ grand jury to investigate any supposed crime– a favorite tool of right-wing militia groups that has been used to attempt to indict anyone from Barack Obama to the Montana Human Rights Network. Ask the House Judiciary Committee to vote NO on HB 405.

✍️ SB 109 draws a highly partisan, gerrymandered map for the Public Service Commission’s districts. The PSC oversees Montana’s utilities, including NorthWestern Energy; it’s crucial that these districts are representative of Montana’s communities, not one political party. Ask the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee to vote NO on SB 109.

♀️♂️ SB 458 defines ‘sex’ in Montana law in a way that erases intersex people, prevents individuals from filling out & receiving legal documents in alignment with the gender they live as, and collapses the umbrella of ‘sex-based discrimination’ to no longer include sexual or gender minorities or pregnant people as protected classes. Yikes.  Ask your Representative to vote NO on SB 458.

So not ‘sex’y

SB 458 made it to the Senate floor on Wednesday, where it was debated amongst the body before being passed 28 to 22.  While the sponsor of this bill, Sen. Carl Glimm, would like for you to believe that the 60 page bill only adds “three simple definitions” (for ‘sex’, ‘male’, and ‘female’) to the Montana legal code, and has nothing to do with “transgenderism” or discrimination (even though the word “discrimination” appears in the bill 15 times), this minimizing rhetoric couldn’t be further from the truth, as many opponents on the Senate floor argued. 

For one, forcing individuals to identify as either male or female based on their gametes is a violation of privacy, and opponents also argued that it challenges federally recognized protected classes that fall under the umbrella of “sex-based discrimination” – pregnancy status and sexual and gender identity –  in a way that would threaten federal funding to the state of Montana. Erasing these protections for pregnant and LGBTQIA2S+ individuals from anti-discrimination law is a HUGE deal, and much more complex and harmful than simply “defining sex.” 

At this reading, Senator Molnar introduced an amendment to the bill that he hoped would provide “equal protection under the law” for intersex individuals (the existence of whom he learned about a mere three weeks ago). While this amendment seems to have been in good faith, we were once again reminded that good intentions cannot make up for actual medical knowledge, and the amendment only inserts more confusing and inaccurate language into the bill, arbitrarily deciding for medical professionals how they should classify an intersex infant’s sex.

Please urge your Representative to vote NO on SB 458. It barely made it out of the Senate, and we have hope that it can be stopped by more reasonable and responsible legislators in the House. 

If It’s Not Broken, Don’t “Fix” It

HB 517, sponsored by Rep. Mike Hopkins of Missoula, is a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that claims it would enable the Legislature to ensure college students’ constitutional rights and liberties are not being violated. However, this bill seems to be a direct response to one court case. Last year, the Montana Supreme Court unanimously ruled that HB 102, which would have allowed open or concealed firearms to be carried on any campus in the state, is unconstitutional. Specifically, this act violated the constitutional authority of the Montana Board of Regents to create policies for the University System. 

Our state’s Constitution gives the Board of Regents this latitude in the first place because before 1972, the Legislature had direct control over higher education. This meant legislators with an ax to grind would target professors and programs for teaching subjects they didn’t like by attempting to fire faculty or change curriculum, which severely curtailed academic freedom. Our Board of Regents was created to insulate higher education from the Legislature’s partisanship in order to ensure Montana’s college students receive a quality education, and HB 517 will not help this.

Tell the House Judiciary Committee and your Representative to vote no on HB 517. If you’re a student and feel your rights are being violated, you can contact the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

HB 405 is another proposed constitutional amendment, sponsored by Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway of Great Falls. This proposal would allow half-a-percent of registered voters in a county to sign a petition to call a grand jury to investigate an alleged crime. This bill would allow a tiny number of people (anywhere from 2 in Petroleum County to 530 in Yellowstone) to hijack the judicial system and investigate any supposed crime they wish. Under this bill, any indictment brought by the grand jury would have to be prosecuted by the county attorney– a massive waste of state time and money, as these cases are almost always meritless and lacking evidence.

Not only is this proposal unworkable, but these types of grand juries are the brainchild of right-wing militia groups. When citizen’s grand juries are assembled, they have historically been used as political tools against supposed radical left enemies of America. Several of these grand juries have convened across the country in recent years and have tried to dispense with their brand of justice by indicting anyone ranging from President Obama to the Montana Human Rights Network.

In February, the House Judiciary Committee voted to table another citizen’s grand jury bill, HB 589. Tell the Committee to table HB 405 as well.

Gerrymander? I hardly know her!

Ready for another sneaky bill? This one is a real doozy, as it was entered with some actually good qualities, and then changed near the last minute to be AWFUL (shocking, right?).  SB 109, presented by Sen. Keith Regier of Kalispell is all about redrawing the PSC districts of Montana. 

Before we get into why this became problematic, what the Helena is the PSC? The PSC, or Public Service Commission, is a group of elected Montanans whose job it is to regulate the utility companies of Montana, like the monopoly that is NorthWestern Energy. Follow this link to learn more about the PSC!

In 2021, though, the courts had to step in for a few reasons: changes to the PSC’s district lines had not been made in 18 years (!!!), there were huge and uneven population booms in some of the districts, and the legislature was not in session. The court drew new districts and left it to the legislature to approve. 

SB 109’s initial goal was to both approve the court’s map and lay out a process for legislature to adjust the PSC’s districts following each decennial census. However, like most sneaky things this legislative session, one night just a few days before transmittal, Regier submitted an amendment to SB 109 that REEKS of gerrymandering. It creates its own new map for the PSC districts. This map splits several counties and towns in ways that make no sense, unless you’re trying to favor a certain political party.

Now, why does this matter? The PSC makes decisions that impact our present and future in regards to energy use and costs, the potential for renewables, and more! These decisions should be made in the best interests of the citizens and communities of Montana. The way the courts drew the map didn’t seem too partisan, but Regier’s new map has been drawn

not following county lines and looking rather like a jigsaw-puzzle, in ways that may encourage more partisan-led thinking. It’s sad that wanting a clean environment is often seen as a partisan issue, but this is our reality right now – so let’s remind our legislators that we all deserve a clean and healthful future!

SB 109 is being heard in the House’s Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee on Monday March 20th. Tell the committee to vote NO on SB 109

Hero of the Week- Rep. Kim Abbott

While there are plenty of bills still in motion that seem to be solutions in search of a problem, some legislators are spending their time trying to fix some of the most broken parts of Montana’s landscape. For her sponsorship of HB 574, a bill to establish a workforce housing trust fund, we are thrilled to recognize Minority Leader Kim Abbott of Helena as our hero this week. This bill designates $500 million from Montana’s general fund to be used for grants and loans for the development and preservation of affordable housing– something that is a dire need in Montana. 

As Rep. Abbott pointed out during the bill’s hearing on Monday, there have been plenty of proposals so far this session that aim to address our state’s housing crisis. Many of these bills have been focused on zoning and regulatory reform, but haven’t included requirements or incentives that these newly-legalized building projects are affordable. We agree with Rep. Abbott that it’s time to come at this issue from all angles, and HB 574 is an exciting step toward a Montana where the people who make our communities what they are can afford to live. 

We appreciate Rep. Abbott’s commitment to solving the real problems facing Montanans. You can show your support by asking your Senator to vote YES on HB 574!

Villain of the Week- Rep. Steven Galloway  

Our villain this week has made his priority clear this session: giving landlords more power (we’ll give you one guess as to this villain’s occupation…). Rep. Steven Galloway of Great Falls is the sponsor of both HB 282 and HB 283, both of which would further tip the scales in favor of landlords in Montana. 

HB 283, which was heard in committee on Wednesday, would restrict local governments from imposing any restrictions or regulations on landlords that aren’t explicitly outlined in the Montana Landlord-Tenant Act– even if those regulations apply to all other businesses and residences in the city. Montana’s local governments already have very little power when it comes to the regulation of landlord activities, but this small change seems to essentially create a special legal class only for landlords, which, if you ask us, is absolutely bonkers. 

Galloway’s second landlord bill, HB 282, has been heavily amended since it was first heard in the House, but it’s still bad news. Under the current version of HB 282, if a tenant either changes their locks without permission or doesn’t grant their landlord access to their home, the landlord can issue a 24-hour notice to correct this violation; if it’s not corrected within 24 hours, the landlord can issue a 3-day notice for termination of the lease. Now, under the Montana Landlord-Tenant Act, refusal of access is already grounds for lease termination, but this timeline is Galloway’s contribution. 

Imagine this: You change your locks as an emergency safety measure, and decide to leave town for a few days to stay with a friend. In that time, your landlord decides they’d like to inspect your home, but they can’t get in. 24 hours later, you have three days to find a new place to live– a near-impossible ask in today’s rental climate.

Rep. Galloway, who has been a landlord for forty-seven years, seems to have forgotten that he was elected to serve all of his constituents. Legislating in your own self-interest? That’s villainous behavior.

HB 282 is being heard in the Senate Local Government Committee on Monday, March 20. Tell the committee to protect tenants, and vote NO on HB 282.