Legislative Roundup

Second Week of 69th Legislative Session: State of State, Debate Over Decorum, Lawmakers Seek Funds For MMIP Task Force

By Emma White and Clayton Murphy

UM Legislative News Service

University of Montana School of Journalism

Gov. Gianforte Focuses on State Budget, Education and Affordability in State of the State

HELENA — From tax relief to programs that foster “prosperity” and “self-sufficiency,” Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte laid out his plan to grow Montana’s economy and address what he called “the affordability crisis” during his State of the State address on Monday, Jan. 13, one week into the 69th legislative session.

One of the plans he touted is the 1% decrease in the income tax rate he has built into the budget he has proposed to the legislature, a change he said would provide over $850 million in permanent relief.

“ To help Montanans navigate the affordability crisis, we propose the largest income tax cut in state history so they can keep more of their money,” Gianforte said. I've heard from many of you that this is a priority.”

A “homestead exemption” was another focal point of the speech, which the governor said would bring with it an estimated 15% decrease in property taxes for Montanans on their primary homes.

In his third State of the State address, Gianforte also focused on education, both in funding institutions and supporting students. He said his proposed budget would invest $100 million in teacher salaries through the TEACH act.

He also announced a $1 million incentive to school districts that implement cell-phone free policies, among other general calls to limit childrens’ screen time and social media use.

Gianforte praised the state’s conservative 2023 budget, criticizing D.C. politicians for not sharing the same prudence and blaming national leaders for higher prices. Meanwhile, he said, Montana’s economy has grown in the last four years. 

“This success is the result of our commitment to creating an environment where hard working Montanans prosper and businesses flourish,” Gianforte said. “And we've done all this despite strong national headwinds from failed leadership in Washington.”

Gianforte did not address Medicaid expansion, which promises to be one of the big debates of the 2025 session.

Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, gave a rebuttal in a separate hearing room after the governor’s speech. He pledged, in part, his party’s support of maintaining Medicaid expansion.

“ Renewing Medicaid is critical to keeping Montana's healthy and for ensuring that we have adequate health care coverage, not only in urban areas, but also in rural Montana and in Indian Country,” Morigeau said.

The Montana Freedom Caucus, a select group of conservative legislators, also responded to the speech and noted their desire to stop Medicaid expansion.

 ”The Montana Freedom Caucus believes that those who can work, should work,” said Rep. Jane Gillette, R-Three Forks. “To that extent, the current Medicaid expansion framework has failed Montana taxpayers, and most importantly, the people who the program purports to help.”

Gianforte also touched on supporting law enforcement, transparency in the judiciary through House Bill 39, the need to secure the southern border, energy and infrastructure, as well as gender-focused legislation, which drew divided applause down the House floor.

-By Clayton Murphy, UM Legislative News Service.

Lawmakers Hear Proposal Urging Federal Government to Fully Fund Law Enforcement in Indian County

HELENA – Tribal leaders and lawmakers are supporting legislation that would urge the federal government to fully fund law enforcement in Indian Country in Montana, where they say agencies are underfunded at a time when reservations are faced with epidemics of drugs and missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, is carrying House Joint Resolution 1, which would also ask Congress to develop agreements with each of the tribal nations to put programs in action. The resolution would also request Gov. Greg Gianforte send a letter to Congress asking for the same. The bill is headed to the full House for debate after the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee advanced the bill on Jan. 16.

Patrick Yawakie, representing the Blackfeet tribe, supported the resolution at the proposal’s first hearing in the committee, noting that in the original treaties between the federal government and the tribes of Montana, the government promised to fund law enforcement on tribal land. Despite this, Yawakie said law enforcement in tribal nations has been consistently underfunded.

“This has led to increases of organized crime entering into our reservations, distributing drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, leading to a growing number of overdoses and deaths,” Yawakie said.

Dan Stusek, representing the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, spoke in support of the resolution and said a 2021 estimate from the Bureau of Indian Affairs showed federal funding for tribal law enforcement and public safety met less than 13% of the tribes’ total needs.

“Although CSKT does more than any other jurisdiction on our Flathead Indian Reservation to ensure the safety of all citizens, our tribal justice system is consistently underfunded, current federal funding for tribal justice systems does not come close to meeting the Indian Country’s enormous unmet needs.”

Running Wolf added that the resolution wouldn’t cost the state any money.

“There’s a zero funding appropriation, just ink and paper and a stamp to get it to Washington D.C. on behalf of both Senate and House and from the Executive Office.”

-By Emma White, UM Legislative News Service

Proposed Legislation Seeks to Give MMIP Task Force Ability to Raise Funds

HELENA – Supporters of a bill that would create a special revenue account to fund the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Task Force say it is necessary to keep the program going.

The task force was created in 2019 and then 2023 Legislature extended its authorization for ten years. According to the Montana Department of Justice, the group’s mission is to identify barriers to jurisdiction on tribal land and increase reporting and investigation into cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Now, some lawmakers are advocating for creating a way for the task force to raise the money it needs.

Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, is sponsoring House Bill 83, which would allow the task force to create an account so it can raise funds.

“The task force currently does not have a mechanism to raise funds, purchase equipment, or maintain operational costs,” Running Wolf said at the bill’s first hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 13. The task force would like to create an account, have the ability to accept and generate funds to help support the task force’s mission and objectives.”

Edward Barta, representing the Northern Plains Resource Council, testified in support of HB 83. Barta said he hears heartbreaking stories from Indigenous members of his community who have had family members disappear.

“I doubt there are many Indigenous people who live in Billings who have not been affected in some way by this crisis,” Barta said.

Patrick Yawakie, representing the Blackfeet tribe, spoke in support of the bill, saying there are currently 48 missing indigenous people in Montana. According to the Montana Department of Justice, 21 of these people have been missing for over a year, and 27 have been missing for less than a year.

Yawakie said a special revenue account would allow the task force to apply for grants, accept gifts and generally bring in revenue for their operations.

“With advancements in forensic science and search and rescue capabilities, having these resources can mean the probability these individuals are found,” Yawakie said.

-By Emma White, UM Legislative News Service

Amendments to Montana House Decorum Rules Prompt Debate

HELENA – The Montana House of Representatives is working under a new set of rules after voting on Jan. 14 along party lines to approve an amended resolution that spurred an emotional debate from both parties.

House Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, sponsored House Resolution 1, which sets the rules for the House in 2025. But at issue was an amendment to the bill that lays out decorum – or rules of conduct – as well as what discipline members might face if they break those rules.

“A lot of people have expressed interest in having a decorum amendment which would establish kind of policies and procedures. I guess this is kind of like a human resources, step-by-step progression on what will happen if we have breaches of decorum,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said the amendment was an attempt to provide a more narrow definition of decorum for the representatives, but Democrats expressed worries that the amendment would be used punitively.

Under the amendment, a representative would get one strike, then face a three-day censorship, then expulsion.

But Rep. Jonathan Karlan, D-Missoula, pointed out a clause farther down in the bill that allows the representative to be censured or expelled on the first offense, if there is a majority vote.

“I think that, of course, we are well aware that we’re not in the majority, and we’d be relying on the majority to just uphold our rights because with not even a party-line vote, we could expel somebody and there’s no limit on that,” Karlan said.

Fitzpatrick replied that the bill simply seeks to clarify the behaviors that are considered unacceptable in the chamber, such as personal attacks against character and using profane language, to clear up some of the ambiguity that can arise during controversial debate.

“We’re not interested in being the word police. We’re going to have good, vigorous debate in this room, but we can do it professionally, we can do it in the type of discussion that honors the people of Montana, so this I think is an appropriate amendment,” Fitzpatrick said.

The amendment to the rules comes after a contentious debate and a public protest during the 2023 session that led Republican leadership to censure Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula.

On the House floor during debate on the new rules, Zephyr pointed out that decorum standards were lowered from a super majority vote to a majority vote, which she said raises concerns about how the bill could be used.

“There is a risk we run when we lower to a simple majority, that the majority can deem at any time that if they think a certain stance is offensive, that they can silence dissent,” Zephyr said. “And to me that is inherently un-Democratic.”

-By Emma White, UM Legislative News Service

Senate Bill Aims to Improve Procedure After Child is Removed From Parents

HELENA — A Montana Senate committee is weighing a bill that supporters hope would improve the experience of children and parents involved in hearings about the emergency removal of a child from a parent’s home.

Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, presented Senate Bill 73 to the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee on Monday, Jan. 13, saying it is a thoughtful and simple bill that could aid in diffusing difficult family situations before the first trial.

“The pre-hearing conference could really be the home run to resolving this situation ahead of time,” Yakawich said, “so that when they meet, and the facilitator is keenly aware of what needs to be done, they can meet and even try to resolve most of this before meeting the judge.”

Pre-hearing conferences are conferences with the child, parents, legal counsel, and support people such as counselors. The bill would require the child’s attorney to be present in every conference and would make sure the pre-hearing conference facilitator is notified within 24 hours of the emergency removal.

It would also require that the conference is held before the first trial, which happens within five days of the removal and ensure that a conference is held in every child’s case, even if the parents are unable to attend.

One of the proponents who testified at the bill’s committee hearing was Alissa Snow, representing the Chippewa Cree Tribes of Rocky Boy, who said while Native Americans make up 6.5% of Montana’s total population, Native American children make up two thirds of the children in the foster care system.

“This bill is good, and it has a potential to not only increase efficiency, but it also has the potential to increase positive outcomes for our Native children in Montana,” Snow said.

Pre-hearing conferences have served an important role in improving the Montana child welfare system, said Nikki Grossberg, the division administrator for Child and Family Services.

Grossberg testified in support of the bill, saying the main purpose is to outline visitation schedules, get parents’ input on who their children could be placed with, and connect parents to services if need be. She said creating a visitation schedule is a benefit because it is important for the child to be able to see their parents as soon as possible.

Grossberg said the implementation of SB 73 could help the process go smoother when a child is removed from their parents’ home.

“I think it’s important, when we collaborate on bills, that we can come up with ways to create efficiencies for the system as well as keep kids safe,” Grossberg said.

No opponents testified against the bill at the hearing.

-By Emma White, UM Legislative News Service

Bathroom Bill Passes the House After Stirring Testimonies From Montana Lawmakers

HELENA — A bill that would require all Montanans to use restrooms, changing rooms and sleeping quarters corresponding with their sex assigned at birth is on the way to the Montana Senate after passing through the House of Representatives on Thursday, Jan. 16.

The House passed House Bill 121 along party lines, with Democrats arguing it is a discriminatory, unnecessary and expensive bill that will increase prejudice in the state, and Republicans arguing that it preserves the dignity and safety of women in vulnerable places.

In the House floor debate the day before the final vote, Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, R-Billings, said the bill reflects Montana values and protects privacy and protects women and children.

“This is not a new fight,” Seekins-Crowe said. “I have been in this arena for years, standing firm against the radical forces that seek to erode the basic rights and protections of women and girls.”

Seekins-Crowe said the bill seeks to establish simple, common sense practices that recognize biological differences.

“The reality is simple,” Seekins Crowe said. “Biological differences matter.”

Rep. SJ Howell, D-Missoula, was one of the Democrats who spoke in firm opposition to the bill on Wednesday, saying that while they also care deeply about the privacy and safety of women, HB 121 is not designed to do that.

In the floor debate, Howell pointed out the bill’s language, which defines any encounter in a restroom with someone who could potentially be of the opposite sex as a punishable offense, rather than harmful behavior directed at another individual.

“It is appropriate for us as a body to legislate harmful behavior,” Howell said. “It is not appropriate to legislate people existing.”

Howell added that they did not see how HB 121 corresponds with Montana values. They predicted the enforcement of the bill would infringe on privacy rights and increase property taxes, since many facilities would need to change the structure of their restrooms.

“Montana values, they aren’t complicated,” Howell said. “They aren’t political. Montana values are simple: love thy neighbor, mind thy business.”

-By Emma White, UM Legislative News Service

Clayton Murphy and Emma White are reporters with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Murphy can be reached at [email protected] .edu. White can be reached at [email protected].