Toplines: Another round of transmittal chaos; Let’s take this by issue area
Events, Gatherings and Rallies
CAPITOL EVENTS
April 18th Rally to Defend the MT Supreme Court is CANCELLED! Due to the wins from the past two weeks to protect our impartial judiciary, we are cancelling next week’s rally. Take a moment in the next week to call and thank Representatives and Senators for their votes!
SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE FORUMS
Billings School District #2 Candidate Forum/Meet and Greet! April 16, from 6 – 8 PM at the Art House Cinema and Pub- It’s that time of year again and there are 2 competitive school board trustee seats up for election in School District #2 with the election coming up on May 6th. Please join Forward Montana and League of Women Voters for a candidate forum/meet and greet.
Gallatin County School Board Meet and Greet! April 22, 5:30 – 7:00 PM Bunkhouse Brewing in Bozeman- join us in chatting with our school board candidates in Bozeman and Belgrade! We will be getting to know our candidates ahead of the upcoming School Board Election on May 6th! We will provide everyone’s first drink!
Flathead School Board Candidate Forum! April 24, 2025 5 – 7 PM at
Bias Brewing (new location!), 412 Main St, Kalispell- Want to be a part of an exciting, impactful event in our community? Join us at the Flathead School Board Candidate Forum, this is a great opportunity to get involved in local elections and make sure the voices of our young people are heard. Come grab a cold one, some snacks, and all the tea!
STUDENT GATHERINGS
Join the MSU FMT Club Meeting for community, crafts and civic engagement! Monday, April 7th from 6-7pm Wilson Hall and every other Monday!
Join the Forward Montana UM Meeting on April 18, from 2:30 – 3:30PM at The Branch Center. Group meetings are a place to decompress, talk out strategies, and for organizers and activists of all different realms to come together to a political home, and be in solidarity and community.
Another Round of Transmittal Chaos
This time, general bills that were amended in their second chamber need to be returned to their chamber of origin by Saturday, April 10th. For example (because that sentence is wonk): HB 311 passed the House, but was amended in the Senate. This made HB 311 a different version of the bill the House voted on. So, it has to go back to the House, so representatives may discuss these amendments. On April 8, HB 311 was returned to the House, so it meets this transmittal deadline.
Committees again were crammed with hearings and quick votes, and the second half of the week legislators were on the floor for full days of debates – broken up by meals or the need for an Appropriations hearing on a general bill that aims to spend or make state money.
This general bill transmittal was about as rough as the first one, as the late-session vibes have brought loose lips and even worse tempers to both chambers. Hold tight, as we ride the highs and lows of where our priority bills are at – and be prepared for some shocking language.
Let’s Take This by Issue Area
First, LGBTQ rights. This session has seen at least 25 bills that were directed at erasing or harming transgender individuals in our community. And similar to the last general bill pre-transmittal week, we saw some impressive wins this week to push back against the hate of our state.
On Tuesday, representatives debated Sen. Fuller’s SB 164, which would label gender affirming care for youth as ‘child endangerment’ and criminalize doctors and parents for supporting trans youth who provided that care. We are shocked a bill that would make doctors and parents felons for supporting youth made it this far in the legislative process. Representatives from both parties stood to speak in opposition (including trans nonbinary legislator, Rep. SJ Howell). And it failed to pass, 40-58!!
Then on Wednesday, senators gutted a bill that would criminalize trans people for using a public bathroom or changing room. So while HB 446 passed the senate 27-23, it no longer targets transgender individuals just trying to get dressed at their gym.
And finally, SB 218, which would have created an extreme statute of limitations for medical malpractice for gender affirming care, was amended despite objections from conservatives and deplorable opening remarks from Rep. Overstreet – humorously countered by trans legislator, Rep. Zephyr. Is this bill, as amended, still discriminatory? Absolutely. It passed the house on a party-line vote and now joins HB 682 as two policies moving towards the governor’s desk that attempt to curtail available healthcare across the state.
We wish it was all ‘W’s, with so much hateful policy moving through the session, legislators have many options to vote ‘yes’ for discrimination. On Thursday, with the bill sponsor seated at the back of the Senate chambers (instead of seeing to his work on the House floor), senators debated anti-trans HB 400, the so-called ‘Free to Speak Act’.
Opponents uplifted the words of teachers and pushed for the need of kindness and tolerance in the classroom – and only to receive ridicule from proponents. Overall, the debate lasted almost an hour (appalling, considering how much work the Senate has). In the end, the bill passed 28-22.
Then, on Friday, the House debated SB 437, Sen. Glimm’s ‘define sex’ bill. Legislators used antiquated analogies to make their point that a ‘man is a man, a woman is a woman’. And while we applaud both of Montana’s transgender legislators for their courageous voices speaking in opposition, we are tired of watching Rep. Howell and Rep. Zephyr stand over and over again to justify their existence to their colleagues. This bill is in clear defiance of a recent court case that threw out the last attempt to legally erase transgender people. Yet, it passed the House and is now headed to the Governor’s desk.
Victory for our judicial system. On Monday, the House finally ended the debate on partisan election of judges. HB 838, which would have allowed Montana Supreme Court justice candidates to claim a political party, failed to pass the house, 46-54. We were cheering as one opponent made it clear: the answer is less partisanship in the judiciary, not more. This session debate may be cooked, but it isn’t going anywhere, as many legislators are unhappy with judicial elections – and are pushing a merit-based appointment system, removing voter say completely.
Undermined voting rights. Legislators are looking to curb voter participation across the state by creating new barriers to voter registration. It’s giving elitism – and complete disregard for how this will impact people’s access to the ballot.
During the SB 490 debate on the House floor, legislators said that ending same-day voter registration at noon on Election Day is what is best for election workers and will get rid of long wait lines that plague larger counties – although one proponent belittled Election Day registrants as just ‘procrastinators’.
Yet, as one opponent to SB 490 pointed out, the best way to support counties is probably to invest in more election workers and Election Day resources. Unfortunately, SB 490 passed the house, 58-42.
The same morning, senators were debating HB 413, which would re-define state residency to remove the ability for ‘temporary’ residents to vote, unless they intend to permanently stay in the Montana county they’ve moved to. As explained by one opponent – this suppresses student votes. And not just for folks arriving from out of state to attend college, possibly even for individuals who move between counties in Montana for educational opportunities.
After listening to the carrier of the bill explain that we want to ‘keep Montana, Montana’ – and keep voting access from unengaged voters or uneducated people who’ve moved to our communities – it passed the Senate on a party-line vote, 31-19.
Next, reproductive rights. Despite a clear victory at the ballot last November, legislators still spent the session attempting to undermine reproductive rights and access to reproductive care. On Thursday, senators debated HB 388, a bill that restricts government regulations on pregnancy centers. Proponents claim that unregulated pregnancy centers (UPCs) have a constitutional right to function as they see fit – and accuse abortion advocates of working alongside the government to target the free speech and religious freedom of pregnancy centers.
All while denying the evidence presented by opponents that UPCs violate patient privacy and share inaccurate medical information. In a rollercoaster 24 hours, the bill was amended to require UPCs to comply with healthcare and consumer protections – but then those amendments were stripped, with even so-called privacy rights advocates voting against ensuring privacy protections for patient data. HB 388 is a dangerous policy that seeks to shield centers from regulation – all while allowing them to dissuade and intimidate individuals from accessing abortion-related care.
In an unexpected move, the Senate Judiciary committee reversed its decision on HB 475, passing it through this week after tabling it March 21. HB 475 would prohibit the use of shackles on incarcerated women during childbirth – a small win for reproductive justice in Montana. It hasn’t reached the finish line yet, and will likely be heard next week on the Senate floor. Call the Capitol Switchboard (406-444-4800) to urge Senators to vote YES on HB 475.
Attacks on the Montana Environmental Protection Act. The 3rd bill that attempts to undermine environmental protections across the state moved out of its second chamber this week – and is headed to the governor’s desk. Proponents claim that this bill is about regulatory certainty after the recent Held v Montana decision – but as shared by opponents, this would weaken MEPA, which was ruled an unconstitutional action in the Held case.
Legislators debated whether or not we should consider long-term impacts of greenhouse gas emissions – or even the impact a project can have outside the community it takes place in! And as one opponent pointed out, this undermines the ability to understand the long-term effects of resource extraction. Conservative leadership stated their dislike of climate action, with one conservative throwing shade at youth. SB 221 passed on a party-line vote. We think the legislators who voted to undermine our constitutional right to clean air and water should go touch grass.
Hero of the Week
This week’s hero is Representative Kelly Kortum (D-Bozeman) for his persistence and bipartisan relationship building to get HB 311 through both the House and the Senate. As Rep. Kortum mentioned in the Senate committee hearing, this policy has been brought forward in the 2023 and 2021 sessions, but failed to make it out of its initial committee hearings – and in 2019 didn’t even make it past the drafting process.
Fast forward to this session, where any and all solutions are needed to ease the impact of the housing crisis on renters. Rep. Kortum worked with members from both parties and stakeholders to amend the bill to address concerns from landlords, while still keeping the main purpose intact: returning fees to rental applicants.
For giving us hope that tenants rights policy is a reality in Montana, Rep. Kelly Kortum is our hero of the week.
HB 311 needs one more vote in the House, to approve the amendments made in the Senate. Please show your support for this week’s hero by calling the Capitol Switchboard and demanding that representatives give the final green light needed to move HB 311 to the Governor’s desk.
Villain of the Week
This week’s villain is Senator Theresa Manzella (R-Hamilton) for her closing remarks during the senate debate on anti-trans policy HB 400. As previously mentioned, this bill was debated on Thursday, and while most proponents claimed this was about ‘free speech’, Sen. Manzella, who carried the bill on the floor, shared some wild claims on her right to disrespect transgender individuals.
This comes after a heated discussion on whether teachers should have the authority to protect youth from bullying while at school or whether kindness and compassion should be considered essential tenets of the classroom. Sen. Manzella wrapped up the debate by defiantly claiming it is her god-given right to deny transgender individuals basic respect – and she will never be forced to do so.
For her adamant advocacy to allow for verbal violence against transgender youth, Sen. Manzella is this week’s villain.