WEEK 1

WEEK 1 DAY 1-5 & TRAINING WEEK
I have COMMITTED to writing a little bit each day of what I’ve been doing here in Helena Montana since I got my new job representing District #38.
🟥EVERY week there will be a new UPDATE. This FIRST POST includes my TRAINING, which took place in November/December and WEEK ONE of session.
🟥I really want everyone to know I still have the same number and email. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me there. ( 406-853-1636 or Greg.Kmetz@legmt.gov)
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Kmetz for Montana House District 38 Daily Report 11-15-22
(Training)
First official day on the job started with a 7am phone call requesting my presence in the office of the Governor’s Budget Director, Ryan Osmudson. When I arrived at the State Capital, I was directed towards this office, and met Director Osmudson. We talked (and chuckled) about our former relationship, when Ryan farmed many irrigated acres near Miles City and was a customer of my welding business. We talked that only in America could a farmer/rancher end up managing the $4 billion dollar state budget and a local welder finding himself representing the City of Miles City in the State Legislator. The remainder of that day consisted of training at the “Barn” a few miles outside of Helena.
Session #1 consisted of the importance of communicating with your constituents, Session #2 was an interesting presentation by lawyers from the Attorney General office. The Q & A questions came like fast balls, many having to do with the State Supreme Court overturning several laws that were passed & signed by the Governor, only to be rendered useless by the high court. Session #3 consisted of “What to Say & What not to Say”. Many examples were given of how mis-spoken words can explode into a public-relations night mare … kinda put the fear in me, which is not a bad thing!!
11-16-22 Legislative Training
Today we voted on Caucus leadership. A great young Republican leader, Matt Reiger, was elected House Speaker. We have a 68 to 32 seat advantage over the Dem’s and a great Republican Governor, so we are sitting in a good spot to move a truly conservative agenda forward. Look for bills that will produce more freedom and opportunity in every area of our lives. We had training by the Legislative Services Division. This department takes our ideas and turns them into bill drafts that might someday become Montana Law. Alice worked most of her life for Dr. Young and he was greatly bothered when the health provider (corporation) he worked for would not allow some medicines to be prescribed, so I will try to carry a bill that will let Doctors be Doctors … it’s called medical freedom. We also had training by the Legislative Audit Division. They track all state income and expenses. All audits will soon be able to be viewed on line. Performance Audits can be ordered by members of the legislator to track any institution or projects in Montana. The Audit Division is also charged with technology audits, which entail making all the data storage secure and safe … not a small thing to accomplish. The audit Division also has a whole subdivision dedicated to waste, fraud and abuse in state government.
I was highly impressed with the personnel and professionalism these State Agency’s demonstrated. Someone had sent me a message with a voting ballet question … she could not find anything on the state web site about her ballet being counted. Being new to this, I walked into the State Department and told them I was a new representative from HD 38 and had a problem. Their response was immediate! The lawyer assigned to the State Department met me in less than 1 minute and had the man in charge of the voting data right behind him. The missing ballot signature envelope was found in minutes, with the explanation that the new software system would post this information almost immediately. I learned State Employees have the highest respect for the elected officials. Dinner in the Capitol that evening and that completed the end of day 2 on the job.
11-17-22 Day 3 of Legislative Training,
Legislative Services Division supplied a series of excellent training sessions on how to submit a bill. A group of highly skilled non-partisan professionals will take your idea, do the research, writing and a full legal review, to make a presentable bill for you to carry. I have made a list of ideas that I will present to a Legislative Service Technician tomorrow. They will review these ideas and if possible, convert these ideas into a bill worthy of submission. Here they are:
1) Medical freedom Bill … Most medical providers during COVID restricted Doctors rights to prescribe some protocols and some drugs known to cure COVID. If this bill becomes law, Doctors would have the freedom to be Doctors.
2) This idea may never surface as a bill but I would like to greatly restrict the ability of groups to file a suit to stop projects like logging, mining, and others. When they stop a project, for sometimes years, they should have to pay/reimburse for all losses incurred because of the lawsuit.
3) Make it much easier to permit coal mines, oil wells, gas wells
4) Legal Descriptions that clarify genders and the pronouns (so to speak). As you would expect, I would only like 2 pronouns on the list … male & female. (wont the sparks fly on this one??)
5) Pass a bill that simply defines when life begins. I am fully persuaded, and science proves, that life begins when the sperm touches the egg.
6) All political candidates in Montana, regardless of partisian status, need to declare their party. It tells us, about an individual, when we file as a Democrat, Republican, Independent or Libertarian.
7) All Residential Requirements need to be the same in all areas of our state. Hunting, voting, everything!!! Let’s just make them all the same
😎 Father ID Bill … If someone is legally identified as a father, the mother is eligible for a $200 to $1200 per month payment for 18 years. Let’s help the unwed mom take care of her baby & teach the Dad some responsibility.
9) Move the regulation of ash produced by coal plants under the PSC. The thought behind this is that this cost adds to the price of regulated utilities, so let the PSC regulate coal ash.
10) Allow convicted, non-violent felons to get their hunting rights and gun rights back after probation is ended.
12-7-22 Legislative Training
Attended Governor Gianforte’s Red Tape Relief initiative put on by Lieutenant Governor Kristen Juras. This initiative has to do with all the trades & professions, monitored by many boards … Nurses/medical, plumbers, electricians, crane operators and etc. There are 50 professions covered by various Boards that would be eliminated and moved to the Dept. of Revenue. I was a little disappointed, as no cost saving analysis had been done, but I liked the idea. A huge job but probably necessary.
12-8-22 Legislative Training
Attended Legislator Budget Training put on by state agency leadership … very well done. The state Web site leg.mt.gov holds an un-believable amount of information on every agency. It includes statistics that effect Montana life, housing prices (broken down to city level), student information, people moving into Montana & their income based on income tax returns, and more statistics & numbers than you could imagine. All accessible by anyone, as it is all public information. I also attended all department heads giving their annual reports. Why was I surprised that wages have to increase due to inflation? Professional people are very hard to find, prison guards are in short supply and on it went. Most Agency’s requested 15% to 35% increase in their budgets. At present the Green Agenda is rapidly reshaping the world with high fuel prices and destroying production of any carbon producing energy. It’s also limiting nitrogen fertilizer worldwide, will label livestock as carbon producers & on it goes.
I will officially report for duty on 1-2-23, take the oath for service & be officially sworn in as Representative #38 of the State of Montana. I will do my best to Represent the people I live with.
1-2-23 Day 1
1st official day as Montana State House District 38 Representative!! Today, starting at 12:00 we had our swearing in ceremony, raised our right hand and swore to defend the U.S. and State Constitution, so help me God … an oath I intend to take VERY seriously. It was a time when friends & family could attend and I was so excited that my sons and family could attend. Trevor, my oldest, & Brooks with his wife Brooke (yes that’s right) and their 8 year-old son, Dane & twin girls, Sydney & Sawyer age 5. A very fun and eventful day for myself, Alice and really, the whole family. Helena will be our home for 4 months. We have a nice basement apartment. Alice said it reminded her of college days!! A wonderful gal, Beth, rented out her basement to us. She let our dog move in with us so it is all good!!!
1-3-23 Day 2
Started off with a meeting of the Judiciary Committee. Representative Amy Regier is the Chair. The first thing I did was find the coffee and pour a cup of coffee for myself and Zoey Zephyr, the 1st ever transgender elected to the State House. We went over committee rules and listened to a bill presentation by Representative Running Wolf on the number of missing Native Americans. We will vote on this bill at a later date, but there is $61,000 in state funding associated with the bill. It allows unlimited private funding & would create a Missing Persons Response Team. I will vote yes on this bill. Lunch was provided in the Rotunda by the American Farmers Union. In the afternoon we met on the House floor for a few announcements and a photo shoot. I volunteered to carry agency bills so at 3pm I went before the Local Government Committee chaired by Larry Brewster and carried a bill for the Dept. of Agriculture to remove from the books a 1925 law called the Huckster Law. This law stated you had to have a state license to sell agriculture products door to door and this bill repealed that old law. It is part of the Governor’s “Red Tape Reduction Initiative” and Lieutenant Governor Kristy Juras attended and thanked me for carrying the bill. We then got a text message from House Speaker Matt Regier about attending an all paid for rib-eye steak dinner, so Alice and I boarded a small bus & traveled 30 miles to the Windsor. It was a great evening, with 12 of us in the entire party, sponsored by Jeff Laszloffy of the Montana Family Foundation and the Alliance Defending Freedom. Very interesting to me was a young lady, Jessica Flint, who is with Alliance for Defending Freedom. We were visiting and she said she had been to Terry, MT and her husband was from Glasgow. I asked her what her husband did for a living and she said his name is Aaron and he is the host for Talk Montana … small world!!! Alice and I got back to our apartment at 10pm, end of Day 2.
1-4-23 Day 3
Day began with a 7:15 am meeting with the entire Republican caucus, with Majority Leader Sue Vinton as the moderator. This meeting had to do with Judicial overreach by our Supreme Court, and some (un-offical) email content between the Justices about how they commented on the low IQ of most legislators. The press was in the room so I’m thinking the Majority Leader’s comments were very restricted. 8:00 am … Judiciary Committee Meeting. We listened to 3 bills this morning with 2 of the Bills having to do with flexibility in the 6 months training period for peace officer training. This affects over 5,000 peace officers. An officer had gotten injured on duty and did not complete the training … this bill gives some flexibility to the 180 day time frame. I will support these 2 bills. HB 57 is a DOJ bill requiring more stringent penalties when you increase speed to flee an officer in pursuit … I will support this bill, also.
This has been quite an experience so far. At a committee hearing, a bill is introduced by a Representative like myself. After the bill introduction, proponents are called, then opponents. Some testify with great emotion because your decision has a huge effect on their life. Question is called & I have the opportunity to call witness’s, from either side, back up for more questions. There are also informational witnesses that can be called and they are well schooled in what the bill is going to accomplish. When there are no more questions, the Chairperson asks for a close by the bill sponsor and you move onto the next bill. Most bills are voted on in a few days but it can also be right after bill closure. Close of Day 3.
1-5-23 Day 4
6:15am … I went to the legislative Bible Study, that is open to members of the House (100 members) & Senate (50 members). There were 12 legislators present, with Pastor Keith Johnson, the Senate Chaplain, leading the study. It was fun, talking about love and the many definitions of that word. Senator Steve Hinebauch talked about the screaming youngster in the grocery store & the young mother giving the baby anything, just to keep them quiet. Steve said this is not love. The Regiers, from Kalispell, are an amazing family. Senator Keith Regier is in the Senate, his son Representative Matt is Speaker of the House and his daughter, Representative Amy, is a member in the House & is Chairperson of the Judiciary Committee, (of which I am a member) During the Bible Study, Amy simply said her Dad handled things differently than the young mother with the screaming infant & it was just classic. So exciting to see a family that exemplifies Gods principals.
In Judiciary, we listened to several agency bills & one affected bail-bondsman. They descended on the committee in force, to testify in opposition about the changes the State wanted to make in how they do business. Right now, I will definitely side with the opponents unless the bill is heavily amended.
Representative Jennifer Carlson approached me during a break. A very smart lady and she is on the Judiciary Committee with me. I told her about a blood bill I am working on that would require health care providers to guarantee patients that require blood, to be able to request non-vaccinated blood. Jennifer shared with me that this would be a very contentious bill, and after some careful thought, she said the bill should be written so it would end up in the Judiciary Committee, as she thought it would pass out of this committee and make it to the house floor. Would it pass the House, I asked … she didn’t think so, but it would sure tell you a lot about the House Members … I guess we’ll see. I asked about the blue sheets that get placed on our house desks daily. These allow folks to message us on a continual basis. I probably received 50 in week 1 … it’s a great way to keep in contact concerning different bills.
1-6-23 Day 5
Freshman meeting in the Bullpen put on by Majority Leader Sue Vinton at 7:15. Sue shares a lot of information but discusses the importance of being a professional and treating everyone with great respect, regardless of differing views. Sue is a great example of that and a great leader that I really respect. We meet as a group every Friday morning.
Think about this … 19 members on these committees … folks that have probably never met before. We sit in this room, together, for 85 more days. Thinking about this, I have tried to visit some of the Dem’s, and even though, politically, we may never agree, I will tell you that I enjoy their company. We then met on the House floor to vote on some bills that came out of committee. The 1st freshman to make a presentation on the floor was Representative Gary Parry, from Colstrip. Afterward, I attended training on Legislator integrity & ethics. Home to apartment at 5:15, thinking the day is over, but at 8pm, received a call from Representative Bill Mercer. Bill is a lawyer and a Federal Prosecutor and is an unbelievable asset to our Republican Caucus. Bill invited me on a tour of the State Prison on Saturday Morning. I’m thinking, if Bill Mercer wants the welder to go to the priso, I should go. A great and informative tour, as there is $135 million in the budget bill for a major overhaul of the lower side of the prison. Some money needs to be spent on basic current updates.