Montana Legislature

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Prairie Lights: Despair no more, Legislature LXIV explained

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Infrastructure

Now that the 2015 Montana Legislature has adjourned, lots of regular Montanans are confused about what actually happened in Helena, which coincidentally is the condition a good many legislators found themselves in when it was finally over. The 64th session, or Legislature LXIV as fans of state government affectionately call it, featured a raft of complicated legislation, parliamentary maneuvering worthy of Machiavelli and the usual ration of ding-dong bills meant to deal with life-or-death issues like yoga pants. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Prairie Lights, Agenda 21, Doc Moore, Machiavelli, Medicaid, Montana Legislature, Steve Bullock

Anatomy of a failed Tea Party strategy

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Koch

Eric Stern, Montana’s deputy secretary of state, has written a good piece in Salon about why the Koch brothers’ well-publicized attempt to torpedo Medicaid expansion in Montana failed so spectacularly. The piece is a few days old now (and was published one day before Gov. Steve Bullock signed into law a piece of legislation also hated by the Kochs’ minions) and it is obviously very partisan, but I think Stern is mostly right. His main point is that the anti-Medicaid campaign was so clearly run by out-of-state stooges that it offended regular Montanans. Who likes being hectored, lectured and talked down to by a bunch of punks in suits—punks who can’t even be bothered to know, within a million or two, what the population of Montana is? Stern also makes this good point:

“Tea Party threats aren’t what they used to be. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Eric Stern, Koch brothers, Medicaid, Montana Legislature, Sarah Laszloffy, Steve Bullock

Art Wittich, accidental hero of the 2015 Legislature

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Art

Don’t miss Dan Brooks’ fine analysis of the 2015 Legislature. Writing in the Missoula Independent, Brooks reminds us that, despite so much evidence to the contrary, there is occasionally some justice in the universe. The jumping-off point for Brooks’ column was the recent outbreak of bipartisan cooperation in Helena. Searching for a cause, he concluded that we can thank Rep. Art Wittich, R-Belgrade, for this unexpected turn of events. “Wittich’s doctrinaire conservatism,” Brooks writes, “forced moderate Republicans into a coalition with Democrats last week, and their cooperation might make the 2015 session productive after all.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Art Wittich, Dan Brooks, Missoula Independent, Montana Legislature

No rooms for guns on stress-filled campuses

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Crisp

Senate Bill 143 appears to be dead. Fortunately, the students it aimed to protect are still alive. After passing the Montana Senate in February, the bill failed, 49-51, on second reading Monday in the House. SB 143, introduced by Sen. Cary Smith, R-Billings, would allow students at Montana’s public colleges and universities to carry concealed weapons on campus. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: From the Outpost, Billings bypass, College Degree Search, Montana Legislature, Montana State University, National Rifle Association, Sen. Cary Smith

The tricky question of boycotts

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Crisp

In January I wrote about Downtown Businesses Against Advertising in the Billings Gazette, a Facebook group organized to protest a Gazette column by Editor Darrell Ehrlick that they perceived as a slam on downtown. “This group is started as a protest to the Gazette and its editorial board,” the page said, “and we encourage all members to transfer their ad dollars to businesses that support downtown, not tear it down.” (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: From the Outpost, Billings Gazette, Michelle Maki, Montana Legislature, Nicholas Schwaderer, Pub Station, Sean Lynch, Wal-Mart

Looking south for legislative diversion

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Edmonds

State Sen. Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, said he got the idea for his bill to put new restrictions on food stamps from talking to store clerks. He said cashiers told him people were using food stamps for soda pop, frozen pizza and energy drinks, among other items he deemed innutritious. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Prairie Lights, Agenda 21, Frank Garner, Fred Thomas, Harlan Edmonds, Medicaid, Montana Legislature, Randall Pinocci

Downtown seeks support for public intoxication law

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The Downtown Billings Alliance is hoping to round up supporters of a bill that would allow cities to pass laws prohibiting public intoxication. Passage of Senate Bill 360, introduced by Sen. Doug Kary, R-Billings, is seen as an important component of larger plans to deal with ever-escalating complaints about the safety and appearance of downtown streets and sidewalks. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Billings, Bruce McIntyre, Downtown Billings Alliance, Ed Bartlett, Montana Legislature, Sen.Doug Kary

Stuck at Warm Springs: Patients’ rights under scrutiny

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Warm Springs

An unknown number of non-criminal patients at Montana’s overcrowded state mental institution are stuck in limbo awaiting transfer to less restrictive facilities. The law says mental health patients must be held in the least restrictive setting possible. But even after Montana State Hospital civil patients have stabilized enough that mental-health staff clear them for transfer to less institutional treatment centers in or nearer their home communities, some patients report being delayed at the Warm Springs campus for months at a time. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Disability Rights Montana, Gov. Steve Bullock, HIPAA, Jon Ebelt, Montana Legislature, Montana State Hospital

Clothing bans? Let us add our suggestions

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Bike

Auxilliary editor’s note: Important clarifications have been made to the editor’s note at the bottom of this column. Poor David Moore. For the past four or five sessions of the Montana Legislature, at least one lawmaker—invariably a Republican, I feel compelled to point out—has made himself a national laughingstock. Moore, a state House member from Missoula, was catapulted to infamy after he introduced a bill that contained, even in its short summary version, the phrase “private parts.” That is never a good sign, and some of the language included in the full text of the bill made things even worse. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Prairie Lights, Montana Legislature, Montanabuzz.com, Rep. David Moore, Steve Shirley, Yoga pants