This year from January ‘til the end of April, our life revolved around politics. The legislature was in session. For four months, we ate, slept and dreamt politics. We lived at the Capitol; we helped draft bills; we testified; we lobbied for and against; and we did our best to keep you informed. By the […]

In the world of public policy, battles can be long, drawn out and last for years, but eventually we do get a resolution, and in this case, a resounding victory. I’m talking about the case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a two-year old court case resulting from the Bullock administration’s attempts to block […]

For anyone following the results of the recent legislative session, the big takeaway from my perspective is that elections have consequences. Montanans put Republicans in charge of the legislature and Democrats in charge of the governor’s office. And the result, predictably, was gridlock. There’s nothing wrong with that if that was the people’s intention, but […]

One week ago today, the 2017 session of the Montana Legislature drew to a close. Legislators quickly left town, and staff began putting the House and Senate chambers into mothballs. Barring a special session because of a downturn in the economy, the legislature won’t return until January 2019. For us, it’s a time to celebrate. […]

The final days of any legislative session are a lot like flying: hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror. This session has been a little different. It’s a lot like watching paint dry, followed by moments of intense frustration. That was the case yesterday when a small group of liberal Republicans joined all […]

With few exceptions, the Montana House and Senate are virtually the same. Both are legislative in nature, both follow essentially the same procedures, and both are run by part-time legislators who have real jobs, for the most part, outside of government. They do, however, have two major differences. The House, at least on paper, controls […]

In my humble opinion, one of the practices most damaging to our republic has been the incredible expansion of government through the use of rule-making authority. It basically transfers power from elected officials who are accountable to the people, to a group of nameless, faceless bureaucrats who oftentimes create rules that expand the power of […]

When it comes to naming a new Commissioner of Political Practices, the 2017 Legislative Session appears to be déjà vu all over again. Years ago, the nominating and confirmation process for Montana’s top political cop used to be fairly straightforward. All the players understood that the nominee needed to be recognized by BOTH political parties […]

When it comes to the courts, there’s an old saying, “The wheels of justice turn slowly.” So what happens when the slow-turning courts interface with a dysfunctional Congress? It appears the wheels just about grind to a halt. On February 13th, 2016, United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died on a private ranch in […]