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 […]
Politics at its core is a dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all game, where elections have tangible, far-reaching and serious consequences. And those consequences become more apparent each time we reach the end of a legislative session. In Montana, Republicans control the House and Senate by comfortable margins. The Executive Branch is controlled by Democrat Governor Steve Bullock, and […]
As the days grow longer, thoughts turn to the end of the session. It’s harder to stay indoors, and participants find their minds wandering during meetings. We’re not talking about the end of a college semester; we’re talking about the fast-approaching end of the 2017 legislative session. When legislators first arrived on January 2nd, the […]
Yesterday marked an important deadline in the 2017 legislative session. It was the transmittal deadline for all revenue bills and those bills that created legislative referendums to be voted on by the people. Any of these types of bills that failed to pass from one house to the other are now dead. Among them, unfortunately, […]
In every legislative session there’s at least one bill that no one saw coming, and that eventually takes center stage. This year, it appears to be Senate Bill 305, better known as the Mail-In Ballot Bill. It’s also becoming known as the “gift that just keeps on giving,” in a bad way. This is a […]
One of the most frustrating things for a lobbyist is to spend months working on a bill, lining up testimony, answering a myriad of questions, receiving commitments from legislators, then having those same legislators suddenly go south and switch their votes, especially when they told you 15 minutes beforehand that they were still solid. Yet, […]
There’s an old saying, “What goes around comes around,” and what’s coming soon is a predictable reality check that voters put into play clear back in November. I’m talking about a flood of bills that will pass both the Montana House and Senate only to run smack into the wall of the Governor’s veto pen. […]
After years of attempts by groups such as the Montana High School Association, the Montana School Boards Association and President Obama’s Federal Department of Education trying to force schools to allow boys who believe they’re girls to use girls’ locker rooms and shower rooms, Montana parents will finally have a chance to voice THEIR opinion, […]
Today is March 16th. It also marks the 55th day of the 2017 Legislative Session. So we’re well over half-way to the finish line. As is always the case, the heaviest bills come toward the end of the session, and the heaviest of them all is House Bill 2, better known as our State budget. […]