Legislative Report

Where to start? It’s a rush to the end. Day 79 is in the books. It’s that point in the session when the can can’t be kicked down the road much longer. Typically there may be several bills that are similar in their mission to accomplish relatively similar outcomes. They all have a price tag, so the job becomes one of weeding out some or all, maybe parts of several bills becoming one. Just for fun, Friday evening, a couple of other reps and I, sat in on the Senate Finance and Claims Committee to watch them resurrect tabled bills and table other bills. That is the Senate version of House Appropriations. At times, tempers flare, but most things are handled with great civility.

In another sense, it is much like early in the session with alot of near unanimous votes, as Senate bills from early in the session finally make it through the process. There are also a lot of House bills returning with Senate or Governor’s amendments that either get concurred with or not. If not, a Senate amendment bill will go to conference committee to hammer out the differences. We either agree with the Governor or send it back to him in the original form, he can then sign or veto entirely.

Senate Bill 370 was a 150 page bill that dealt with updating the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). There was serious concern by many that it also had some nefarious language in it regarding digital currencies. It was amended in the House and sent back to the Senate where it died an ugly death 48-2.

SB392 passed the House. It’s a good bill that seeks to put some of the litigation costs back on the failed party in energy/environmental lawsuits. Essentially a loser pays bill that will hopefully discourage the delay game utilized by many of the extreme out of state funded environmental groups trying to destroy the traditional energy industry.

This past Tuesday brought drama to the Floor that you may have been hearing about. SB99 was brought back by a Governors amendment. It was a good amendment, but created an opportunity for the Democrats to perform for the cameras again. 99 prohibits the mutilation of children’s body parts and so-called transition therapy. On cue, our representative from Missoula with mental health issues that caused him to mutilate his body and now pretends to be a woman, stood to speak on the bill. He tried to shame Republicans for protecting our kids from mutilation. After rambling on he closed with a particular derogatory and I thought threatening comment. The Speaker of the House, Matt Regier, has taken appropriate action by not recognizing him to speak on the Floor unless the offending representative apologizes to the Body. That hasn’t happened yet. Our Montana Freedom Caucus helped lead the charge to protect the decorum and civility of the House.

SB561 by Hinebauch sailed through the House. It will ease the burden on the livestock industry in being able to easily access common medicine. Federal regulations would eliminate availability of these medications in feeds and feed outlets without direct veterinary intervention, which often is not available.

HB575 by Sheldon-Galloway prohibits the abortion of viable babies in most situations. This was back after Senate amendment and passed on a near party line vote. This bill when signed into law will likely face an uphill battle in our left leaning courts.

Thursday brought more excitement. SB458 by Glimm took on the task of defining sex. As you can imagine, these days that’s a difficult undertaking. This created an opportunity for our confused representative from Missoula to try to gain speaking recognition. He was of course denied so the democrats mostly rose in protest to challenge the Speaker’s ruling. That goes to vote and the Speaker was upheld. More theater. That bill carried 63-36 with a few Republicans struggling with the D’s to figure out the difference between male and female. Time for a ranch tour.

One more important bill before I close, HB971. This bill came late, after the recent outrageous ruling by Judge Moses in Billings to revoke the air quality permit of Northwestern Energies gas electrical generating plant in Laurel. Moses ruled that the Department of Environmental Quality hadn’t considered the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change, even though it’s not required in statute. Butte Democrats joined all Republicans to move this important bill forward that specifically prohibits any consideration of so called pollutants unless statutorily required. Moses has announced his retirement. It can’t come too soon. He’s an example of a judge who wants to legislate but too lazy to become a legislator. This is a good example of the need for SB392 mentioned above.

That’s a taste of the past week of life at the Legislature. No mention of what has been a steady process of bills through the Appropriations Committee I sit on. The budget will be balanced in the end, with adequate reserves. It will spend too much money for things government shouldn’t be doing and because of things our citizens shouldn’t be doing.

Again, it’s an honor to represent the good folks of HD37. Call, text, email, mail.

For Freedom, Representative Jerry Schillinger. 406-974-2478, [email protected]