Monday March 27 (Week 13)
The effort that goes into influencing legislators has been a new revelation to me. There’s not a day goes by when virtually every legislator is not approached by any number of lobbyists, trying to influence them to vote a certain way. At first, I really resented it, but as time went on, I have learned that many of these bills are so complex and written in almost a foreign language, that in some cases, we need help. Most lobbyists are very professional, have great people skills and absolutely know their material. I have never been lied to in any manner, have always been treated with the utmost respect and they can articulate both sides of the argument, so I am not opposed at all to their presence here.
Saying that, lobbyists have impacted the way I travel inside the Capitol building! As freshmen, we are delegated to the bullpen, a large open room in the Capitol basement. The only way a person gets into the bullpen is with their name tag. It has a chip, so when we pass in front of the card reader, it unlocks the door. Only legislators and some selected staff can enter. I learned that I could leave the bullpen at 7:55 am, walk up a set of stairs and then have only about 10 seconds of exposure in the hall before I enter the Judiciary Committee Hearing Room. I leave the same way! It’s almost full proof, and only once have I been captured by a lobbyist in 61 days on the job. To get to my Energy Committee room, I walk clear across the Capitol in the basement hallway. (It’s pretty safe down there.) I take the back stairs to the 4th floor, plus its good exercise for an old fat man … just saying!!! It’s a very short distance to the Energy Committee Hearing Room. I thought you all should have this vital information!! LOL!
Yesterday, I received a text from Representative Braxton Mitchel, about a lobbyist wanting to treat us to dinner at Lucas’s, a way fancy Italian Restaurant. Two great lobbyists sat down with me, Braxton Mitchell and Brandon Ler, for a great meal and a little visiting about a bill they were concerned about. One of the lobbyists was from Helena and the other had flown in from Kansas City to testify for 2 minutes as a proponent on a bill we heard in Judiciary this morning … SB 307. This bill addresses regulating non-profits. Even the Family Foundation Lobbyist, Jeff Laszloffy , testified in favor of this bill and I am proud to say that I have always voted every time with this group.
Jeff Laszloffy
HB 862 was sponsored by Representative Mike Hopkins, a Republican out of Missoula. This bill would not allow state funds to be used on abortions. The Representative called this an “elective procedure” and stated that the state had no business paying for “elective medical procedures”. Of course, there were a lot of pushbacks from opponents, but there stood Jeff Laszloffy, with the Montana Family Foundation, to testify as a proponent. I’m telling you, we all need to send a check to them, because they are a huge presence in the halls of the Capitol, defending our traditional family values, on a daily basis.
I have one more … HB 313 was introduced by the Speaker of the House himself, Mr. Speaker (Matt Regier) He brought a bill that would take away the management of all Capitol Property from the executive branch (Governor). This is kind of a big deal because it sounded like this action did not have the approval of the executive branch (Governor), so here comes the big question … Representative Kmetz, how are you going to vote on this one? I do have some unwritten rules in my book. They are: 1) Never vote against the Family Foundation and, 2) Never vote against Mr. Speaker. All I can say about this man is that he has shown tremendous courage in defending values that I hold dear, and he has my highest level of respect. I will be a “yes” on HB 313.
Tuesday March 28 (Week 13)
Another big day in Judiciary today as Senator Shelley Vance, from Belgrade, presented SB 419 that would ban TikTok from Montana. There is a lot riding on this bill, because, as I mentioned in a couple of my back journals, Montana will be the 1st to make this ban, so if it’s successful here, many states will follow. Senator Vance made her short bill opening, followed by proponents to testify. The first to testify was Attorney General Austin Knudsen. TikTok is banned in China, and this country has long been waging a war to destroy our culture here in the USA. In just a few minutes, after downloading TikTok on their phones, young teen children can be exposed to unbelievable, mind boggling, sexually explicit content. I saw it in person up in the AG’s office last week! Austin told us that his teenagers were armed with flip phones. He shared that the Chinese Government has the ability to harvest information in 40 minutes, once these accounts are opened. Everything in/on your phone will be copied. On the other side, the opponents made their points. Many used TikTok for their business. Without it, this would be destroyed. A lady who works with film uses TikTok to promote this industry and her business would really be curtailed. All in all, it was a good, non-contentious hearing that lasted 1 ½ hours. This whole process is done with what is called “geofencing” … look up the definition. It is based on the absolute fact that your location can be easily tracked with your phone, at any time of the day or night. I’m pretty sure some of these companies know more about me than me!
We looked at Representative Jane Gillette’s bill in Agriculture this afternoon. This bill would make “open space land” have a different tax evaluation. I could not understand this bill, and finally, I said I would have to vote “no” because I couldn’t understand it. I was not alone! Minority member Dave Fern made a motion to table the bill and it was unanimous. Sometimes it is a good thing to speak your feelings.
Wednesday March 29 (Week 13)
HB 915 by Representative Bill Mercer would totally change how Supreme Court Justices are selected … they would be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. After the fiasco last fall between Jim Brown and Ingrid Gustafson, the Trial Lawyers’ Group outspent Jim Brown something like 3 to 1. Every billboard, newspaper and radio ad were filled with Ingrid’s “information”. Out-of-state money, by the $$$$ millions, poured into Montana. Many of us worked hard for Jim Brown, but to no avail. On this note, I often see Jim Brown in the Capitol, and he really appreciated the Patriot Roundtable Event we sponsored for him in Miles City. He is just an all-around great guy in every way. I shouldn’t give all my trade secrets away, but almost every time the Trial Lawyers lobbyist testifies, either for or against a bill, it is a good indication of how I will vote … you know what I mean. I sure appreciate Representative Bill Mercer. He’s such a great lawyer, from Billings. It takes someone just like him to push some of these issues forward. Some issues are just way above this welder’s pay grade, to take the Trial Lawyers head on. They are a very powerful, well financed group, but Representative Mercer makes it look easy.
Today was my day to present my two Bible Bills in the Senate Education Committee at 3pm. Both bills gave the Montana code a little clarification. One bill let conversations happen about religion between teachers and students if the student initiated the conversation and the other bill allowed students to use religious material and the Bible for free choice reading and writing assignments. I made the bill opening and look who showed up to testify as a proponent … Mr. Jeff Laszloffy, with the Montana Family Foundation. I sure appreciated his help. Two other folks also showed up from Helena, that I had no idea about. They all did an outstanding job. And, of course, Elsie Arntzen, the State Superintendent of Schools, submitted testimony. These are small bills that don’t really make a big mark on state politics but, nonetheless, I sure appreciated the support. Interesting note right here. When the time for questions from the committee arrived, Jeff Laszoffy was called to the podium and they kind of left the lowly welder alone. Jeff Laszloffy handled their questions with ease. We did have a young, clean-cut man testify as an opponent. He thought the Bible should have no part in our educational system. I shared that the reason for the bills was an incident that happened in the state of Washington, when a football coach would go to the 50-yard line after every game. He simply asked if any of the players wanted to go, they could. He thanked God for the game and opportunity to play and got fired for it. His case took years, but it finally made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, and he won!! In closing, I made a point that if Washington state would have had these simple laws, the millions of dollars spent in a major court case could have been spent on something else. I encouraged the Senate Education Committee to send the Bills to the Senate Floor. I sure hope they do, but a person never knows for sure. If that happens and they do make it to the Governor’s desk, that would be four Kmetz bills with the Governor’ signature on them. It’s certainly not a record, but I sure thank the citizens in Miles City for the opportunity to be their Representative. It has been an unbelievably enriching (not financially … LOL!!!) experience.
Thursday March 30 (Week 13)
Another insanely busy day. Madam Chair became Representative Amy Regier as she presented HB 968 to the Judiciary Committee. This would require parental notification regarding abortion. Representative Regier opened on her bill and Vice Chair Ler called for opponents to testify. It’s always interesting to see who shows up to testify on the many bills we hear, and it was no surprise here. Jeff Laszloffy, of the Montana Family Foundation, followed by Helena citizen Mr. Bacon, who testified as a proponent on my 2 bills yesterday, and this last person was a pleasant surprise. Mr. Alan Doane, from the Dept. of Justice, showed up as a proponent. In my opinion, this is quite a message from the Montana DOJ, because for Mr. Doane to represent this office, the orders had to come from the Attorney General himself. Kind of shows what AG Austin Knudsen thinks is important. Ten opponents testified against the bill … Planned Parenthood, ACLU, several medical clinics, and individuals that don’t want Mom and Dad to know their young daughter is having an abortion. We voted along party lines 13-6 so Representative Amy Regier will get to present her bill on the House Floor.
Representative Jerry Schillinger presented HB 965, a Constitutional Initiative that I just loved. If passed, a person could practice law without a law degree. They must pass the Montana BAR exam to be allowed to practice in the state. Needless to say, the lobbyist for the Trial Lawyers was not at all happy.
At 12:00 we were instructed to report to the bull pen to elect party leadership. We were so late in Judiciary that I missed most of what happened, so I will have to read about it in the paper.
Report to House Floor at 1pm and continue to vote on the massive spending bills to fund the state for 2 years. I cannot even begin to tell you how many millions of dollars’ worth of spending I authorized with my yes votes today. There is virtually nothing to debate on the floor. The battles were fought in the various appropriations committees and by the time they hit the House Floor, everyone just pushed the green button. Most votes were 100 “yes”, 0 “no”. Early on, I was asked by Mr. Speaker what committees I wanted to be on. All I said was … not appropriations!! If it wasn’t for QuickBooks, I wouldn’t have survived as the bookkeeper for Nolley’s Welding for so many years.
Ag Committee at 3:00 with one interesting bill. HB 966 was presented by Representative Katie Sullivan, a minority party member out of Missoula. What made the bill interesting was the fact that most new farm equipment transmits data to the cloud. For example, as you spray, you transmit your chemical, rate, location, and virtually everything you do is uploaded. All newer equipment now does this, so as you combine any crop, the data goes up to the cloud. Representative Sullivan did the best job showing how China takes this data and uses it against us. She gave many examples, but let’s just say the yields were way down, and just as soon as that is made public, the price will rise, so China can make their purchases before the price jumps. Also, they have a huge advantage as they play in the commodities market. Representative Sullivan’s bill would make the data publicly available. There were many unanswered questions, like no cost projected on the gathering and releasing the data, and some other unknowns. The bill died in committee because it just needed more work.
Friday March 31 (Week 13)
Madam Chair dropped her gavel at 8 am and we began hearing our huge backlog of bills. Anyone can sense the pressure we all are under. The staff are now working weekends. A person can literally amend a bill on Sunday, and it will be ready for a committee hearing on Monday. The Appropriations Committees are particularly in trouble, because most of the bills have money attached to them and must go through Appropriations before going to the House Floor.
SB 363 allows DOC (Department of Corrections) to make arrests. This has to do with people making contraband drops at State Prison locations.
SB 410 changes the definition of a “court administrator”.
SB 11 allows all DOC data to be reorganized and compiled so this huge multimillion dollar agency can be better managed.
Things moved right along until we heard SB 361, by Senator John Fuller. This bill looked so simple, as it prevented discrimination against 2nd amendment loan procurements. Some banking institutions (none in Montana) will not lend money to any firearm retailers or manufacturers and this bill was addressing this issue, but like so many bills, the unforeseen consequences got a lot of folks excited. Virtually every banking lobbyist and many bank officers testified that this was a bad bill. Stockman Bank from Miles City contacted me; Rex Phipps from Garfield County Banked zoomed in to share his concern. The hearing lasted a long time, and Senator Fuller had no idea this was going to happen. (Many times, we, as legislators, know a particular bill will be getting a lot of attention and other times, it is just a surprise) This bill is absolutely DOA unless heavily amended. It’s at this point we all need to know what happened back in committees and educate ourselves on “the process” … You might possibly read some headlines that say … Kmetz voted against the 2nd amendment … Montana votes down 2nd Amendment Bill and so forth. This could be a great headline but PLEASE … don’t let anyone fool you as to what these votes actually involved. Always feel free to ask me if you ever have any concerns or questions about my votes.
SB 154. Senator Keith Regier introduced a one-page bill that simply said, “the right to privacy does not include abortion”. Here they come!! Anything that would even hint at preventing one abortion brings a crowd to the committee hearing room. I keep saying this, but the war for our culture in Montana is fought in the committee rooms in Helena every other year. I have seen some on fire, dedicated Christians in my life, but their zeal, drive and determination is certainly matched or even exceeded by the abortion proponents. All I can say is a huge Thank-You to Jeff Laszoffy and the Montana Family Foundation. They are always right on the front lines of this battle here in Helena. In total, ten people showed up to testify IN FAVOR of this Senate Bill, brought to you by a very courageous Senator. We also had eight opponents to this bill … ACLU and their University of Montana Student Lobbyist also weighed in, with a survey saying U of M students were in favor of abortion rights. Representative Braxton Mitchel called the lobbyist to the podium and asked how many in the survey were Montana students. The lobbyist could not answer that question. Braxton then called another opponent, who was of the LGBT persuasion, and asked if anyone other than females could become pregnant? You gotta love Braxton!! I’m sure he was campaigning for the “Villan of the Week” award, where the folks on the left side of the political spectrum pick a weekly “Villan” from among the right-wing legislators. Braxton covets these awards and might possibly be the winner this week.
What is posted below is a tweet from a well-known ACLU lawyer here in Helena. This is an unbelievable, high honor for the “Montana Family Foundation” and Jeff Laszoffy. Congratulations for the great work you do in Helena for our Montana Families!
Also posted next, are the always welcome comments by Senator Ed Butcher, used with his permission
FROM THE DESK—Sen. Ed Butcher (Ret)—462-5615—3-27-2023
The State of the Montana Legislature
Once again we were presented with the Democrat legislative agenda when Rep. Stafman (Bozeman) presented HB 851 before my Transportation Committee which called for establishing a “driving privilege” license for illegal aliens in Montana. Among the string of proponents including the ACLU lobbyist were immigrant counselors, phycologists, and other NGO’s working with the reported 6,000 Biden immigrants in Bozeman. They wanted driver’s licenses for kids as young as 13 years old.
The supporters admitted that as many as 4,000 immigrants in Bozeman were driving illegally—many commuting daily to Big Sky and driving to construction sites and hotels. They stated that 24% of the Bozeman construction work force is these immigrants. The bill also allowed for reciprocity for other state’s driver’s license and the “immigrant” can take the driver’s examination in their language (they don’t have to read or speak English).
Following the hearing, I visited with a retired patrolman who had worked in Bozeman, and he said that when they ticketed an unlicensed immigrant, the immigrant was not prosecuted. He told of a South American immigrant driving a new pickup. He had lived in Bozeman for ten years and his former country’s license had expired. These pickups were company owned and if the company faced a serious accident liability, they simply closed the corporation and opened under a different name—so much for law and order.
An important bill (HB 830) we passed out of the Taxation Committee allows the option for people to pay their property taxes in seven payments from November to May which will provide an opportunity for better budgeting and hopefully fewer delinquency penalties. Another bill (SB 99) which criminalized surgical mutilation of removing sex organs of children under 18 years old was sent to the Governor for his signature to become law. Adults over 18 can continue to choose to have themselves castrated or a hysterectomy to “change” their biological sex—at least they won’t have confused children!
Our Taxation Committee heard a bill to restrict cities from banning petroleum products in their cities and listened to a long line of opponents charging that the State was interfering with local government decision making. I was finally tired of this level of ignorance and called a young Sierra Club lobbyist to the podium and asked her how counties and cities were created. Our public-school failure to educate showed, as she stood like a deer in headlights without an answer. I reminded her that all local government divisions were creations of the State and that state law overruled local rules and local government authority is granted by State government. (In addition to teaching high school American Government, I did not spend ten years teaching college political science and American History, to let factually incorrect statements be repeatedly made!) A reporter for a major newspaper chain tried to make fun of the “elderly” Republican legislator (you know that old rancher from the Missouri River Breaks who was appointed to fill a legislative seat)—he should have researched my background before making a fool of himself in print!
Sen. Ed Butcher (Ret) is a Central Montana rancher/businessman and former college political history professor who served for 10 years in the Montana legislature and has been currently appointed to represent HD 29.
Next is this week’s copy of FORWARD MONTANA … a liberal publication that referred to earlier and names a “Villian of the Week”. The winner for this week is Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe from Billings. Sorry, but I couldn’t get the pictures to copy and paste, but this will give you an idea of the culture war I have been referring to. Please excuse the language used in some of their stories, but I wanted to make everyone aware of what is happening over here. Our friend from up north, Rep Bob Phalen, was also named the Villian a couple of weeks ago for his obscenity bill he was trying to get passed … it’s a war out here!
VILLAIN OF THE WEEK
REP. KERRI SEEKINS-CROWE (R) BILLINGS
Once again, some of our legislators are showing just how much they’re ignoring everyday Montanans. Our villain this week, Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe of Billings, is trying to sneakily bring back LR-131 in the form of HB 625, which is deceivingly titled the “Infant Safety and Care Act.”
Y’all may remember that we just voted on LR-131, the so-called “Born-Alive Referendum,” last November, so why do we have so many legislators trying to bring back zombies?
For a quick refresher, you can check out these impactful stories from real Montana families about how LR-131 would have affected them. HB 625, this almost-identical zombified version, would require doctors, under threat of fees and jail time, to provide life-saving care to any infant “born alive…at any stage of development, who… breathes, has a beating heart, or has definite movement of voluntary muscles” even if the infant has no chance of survival due to complications.
Reviving a policy that was just rejected by the Montana electorate? That’s villainous behavior. If you agree, tell the Senate Judiciary committee to vote NO on HB 625.
HERO OF THE WEEK
SEN. JEN GROSS (D) BILLINGS
If you, like us, have watched what feels like one million hours of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this session, then it’ll come as no surprise that Sen. Jen Gross of Billings is our hero this week. As the session barrels toward the bitter end, this committee has been hearing more than its fair share of highly controversial bills. As the Vice Chair of the committee, Sen. Gross has been a voice of reason through them all.
During Tuesday’s hearing on HB 721, an inflammatory anti-abortion bill based on disinformation and stigmatization of crucial reproductive healthcare, tensions ran high. When it came time for the committee to ask questions, Senator Emrich started down a line of questioning comparing abortion procedures to satanic rituals. After Democratic Senators Gross and Olsen’s repeated objections were shut down by the Chair, Sen. Gross drew a line: she walked out of the hearing, and Senators Olsen and Webber followed.
This isn’t the first time Sen. Gross has taken a stand against the disrespect and misinformation that so frequently rear their heads in her committee. From day one, she has spoken out against the rushed decision making, breaches of decorum, and inflammatory statements that have unfortunately become hallmarks of this legislative session. We know that this is extremely difficult work, and we’re grateful to Senator Gross for doing it.
You can show your support for our Hero by asking your Senator to vote NO on HB 721. When you’re done, drop Sen. Gross a thank you note.
