Monday April 17 (Week 16)
Things are becoming very, very different in Helena. The Judiciary Committee has heard more bills than any other committee in the House, and these bills are, many times, controversial, to say the least. But things are really winding down.
We started at 9 today … much later than what I am used to. We had 2 bills and we were done at 10. Really, nothing to do but get ready for our floor session at 1:00
The House Floor was way busy until 7pm. One bill that got a lot of attention was SB 370, the Digital Currency Bill. I received a lot of emails, texts and blue slips wanting a “no” vote. Like everyone else on planet earth, I see the dollar rapidly losing its place as the world currency. I see inflation and see nothing but more coming our way. The solution, according to the Biden administration, is to just print more dollars and “spend” our way out of this inflationary cycle. We literally could face a hyper-inflation cycle that would devastate life as we know it right now. Their solution would be a new digital currency. No more cash, and every minuet transaction that we make, as individual citizens, would be tracked. Our basic freedoms would quickly vanish, so I was super nervous. I learned that an amendment was attached to this bill that was said to “fix” the problems. There was a lot of debate, on the Floor, “for” and “against”. I still voted on the side of caution with a “no” vote, but the bill still passed 56 to 43. There seems to be a great adversity to pushing the red button by most legislators. Time will tell.
Tuesday April 18 (Week 16)
Once again, the Judiciary Committee livened up the room as Madam Chair dropped her gavel at 8 am.
We heard SB 518, by Senator Theresa Manzella. This bill would restore parental rights in public schools. In essence, school counselors and officials cannot keep important conversations from parents. Like many bills, this seemed to be incident sponsored. A young girl had received school counseling for several years, and upon graduation, “transitioned” (a new word we all need to learn … it means Jane became John) Come to find out, the school had not informed the parents of these very sensitive and personal conversations, so they had no clue. This bill would attempt to fix this. Of course, it met with great opposition, as it is common knowledge in the LGBT community that we CAN change our gender, just by an acknowledgement. I see this daily in the Capitol … the minority party is all-in, and totally behind this concept and issue. In fact, I have never seen a minority party member that would even hint at disagreeing with any “gender by affirmation” idea.
SB 250 by Senator Manzella is a Custody Bill that makes it much harder to place children with an abusive parent. Once again, this was a bill driven by one bad actor. We heard many vivid and tragic testimonies by both older and younger folks that went through the court system in Bozeman. The Judiciary Committee has heard many bills, because of this particular judge, and it is shocking! Really, it’s a shame.
There is no escape.
The 1st bill at the 1 pm floor session was GA (Governor Amended) SB 99 that defined sex. The Governors amendment strengthened the definition, and the amendment got another floor debate. Two Representatives, from Missoula, that have “transitioned”, as well as several other members of the minority party, were not happy with the Governors amendment. At two different times, Majority Leader Vinton had to rise and restore order on the floor. We finally voted 66 “yes” and 34 “no”, with 2 Republicans voting with the minority party. Just another day in the culture war.
Once again, there is a lot at stake here … it is SO important who you send to Helena. I am not trying to toot my own horn here, but I am saying that if the other side got control, big things would change so fast, it would shock you. To their credit, the minority party members are super smart, organized, know the rules inside and out, and are totally committed to their agenda. On our side, WE have RINO’s (Republican In Name Only)!!! And they are exactly that … they vote with the minority party many times and when we have a close vote on any type of controversial issue, we can always count on them to vote with the minority side. In turn, they, the minority, have zero RINO’s, and they mean business!! Elections have consequences, I’ve heard …
Wednesday April 19 (Week 16)
Rep. Zooey Zephyr on Twitter: “”If you are denying gender-affirming care and forcing a trans child to go through puberty, that is tantamount to torture, and this body should be ashamed. If you vote yes on this bill, I hope the next time you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.” https://t.co/WnxvmQtFCt” / Twitter
Rep. Zooey Zephyr on Twitter: “If you are denying gender-affirming care and forcing a trans-child to go through puberty, that is tantamount to torture, and this body should be ashamed. If you vote yes on this bill, I hope the next time you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”
A quote from yesterday’s floor session that made national headlines. If you’re curious, you can google and watch. The debate centered around SB 99 that was being discussed on the House Floor. An interesting look into our state politics.
Last night, we had our Session-End Judiciary Committee Party, that was paid for by all the lobbyists that spent the session testifying at virtually all of our 275 bill hearings. We are told that this number is possibly an all-time high, by a single committee, ever, in the entire history of Montana Politics!! WOW!! This evening had a very interesting make up, as we spanned the spectrum from the extreme left to the extreme right, from Keenan Medrano, the extremely talented and flamboyant ACLU lawyer, to our suit and tie conservative Jeff Laszoffy, with the Montana Family Foundation. The event was on the 6th floor of the Montana Club. Someone said that there were, no doubt, men from both the North and South Civil War Veterans that came to Montana, and sat in this same room years ago, while trading stories. This event was so well put together and so amazingly attended. I sat at a table with 3 lawyers and some fellow committee members, and we had the best time. Every one of us managed to put our swords in the scabbard, relax, and enjoy each other’s company.
SB 160 by Senator Brad Molnar was pretty interesting. This bill would require signs at each Montana entry point, on all State and Interstate highways, offering a $50,000 reward for all drug traffickers convicted of possessing $100,000 worth of product with intent to sell. The bill had 1 opponent from the lobbyist that represents the Peace Officers and Law Enforcement, in general, citing it was too complicated. I don’t know if I agree with them … funerals, drug convictions, jails, parole, hospital visits and prisons are also very complicated, expensive and life altering.
Thursday April 20 (Week 16)
It is getting harder to write my report every day, as there have been no committee hearings for me, so the only activity I have right now is the 1 pm Floor Session.
Today was probably a first, I’m pretty sure. Representative Zephyr made some disparaging comments yesterday, on the floor, when addressing SB 99 (the bill that defines sex). The Representative was called on his/her remarks by Majority Leader Vinton, on two separate times. With no reconciliation or apologies at this point, Mr. Speaker refused to call on Representative Zephyr, so Minority Leader Abbot pushed the “speak” button to disagree with his decision as to what had just happened. The Floor Session was immediately adjourned, while the Rules Committee met for over 30 minutes, deciding how to proceed on with the Floor Session. The rules committee backed Mr. Speaker’s position … to sanction the Representative by not allowing him/her to speak (on the floor), until he/she issues a formal apology.
Unfortunately, this is now our world. This particular community is constantly demanding that WE give in and allow children under 18 to be surgically and medically modified. My position, as I have stated previously, is if it is done, wait until they are older … at least after the age of 18. It’s a huge decision … it needs to wait until the age of legal accountability. There is virtually a huge sexual revolution taking place in America right now. The Bible speaks very clearly about these issues, but it (the Bible) was removed from our culture a long time ago. Let’s just think about this, for a minute, by asking some questions. What/Who is the final authority? Where do we look for answers to life’s most important questions? Here are a few of those important questions … How did our world & solar system get here? Was it just an accident or was it supernaturally created by a Designer? How did I get here, and am I responsible or accountable to anyone, for my life’s choices? Are right and wrong definable? When I die, do I just cease to exist? We could go on and on but all these questions and many more are easily answered in the pages of God’s Book. Remember my challenge …. just 30 seconds a day, give it a try!
Friday April 21 (Week 16)
Today might prove to be one of the biggest days of this legislative session. Two landmark bills were passed!
Representative Josh Kassmier carried HB 971. This bill was written to counter the court action, just a few weeks ago, by Billings Judge Michael Moses. The action was brought by the Sierra Club and the Montana Environmental Information Center, and it (the court action) successfully and immediately shut down construction on the $275 million-dollar Northwest Power Gas generation station in Laurel. This Court Action used the release of Green House Gasses as the basis for the shutdown. HB 971 noted that Green House Gasses are mostly CO2 and are not classified by the EPA as a pollutant. This might be big in future negotiations on projects ahead of us, as well.
SB 557 by Senator Mark Noland will make it much more expensive to stop construction and production (on above mentioned projects) using the Federal Clean Air Act, as there is a provision in this bill to force those seeking an injunction, to be responsible for lost wages and project revenue if the case is lost in court. This will make them (the people who file suits) give more careful consideration before filing a frivolous lawsuit, because it has the potential to be very expensive.
Lastly, Missoula’s Representative Zephyr is determined to stay in the national news, because today, as we were in full House Session, he/she again pushed the “speak” button. And AGAIN, he/she was not recognized by the Chair because the sanction will stay in place for the “blood is on your hands” comment. The remedy to this situation would be a simple apology. That would restore the Representative’s ability to partake in the debate on the House Floor. During my time here, I have witnessed members, on both sides of the aisle, when emotions are running high, mis-speak or just simply say the wrong thing. It happens to all of us, many times in life. For the situation here, that person would meet with the House Leadership. After a conversation, together addressing what happened, and sometimes an apology, it’s over. It’s called “humbling ourselves”, out of respect. We have watched this become a national and world headline and I predict the “optics” will continue till the end of the session. It’s such a shame to end the week on this note.
FROM THE DESK—Sen. Ed Butcher (Ret)—462-5615—4-18-2023
The State of the Montana Legislature
The Legislature is backing up, with bills being pushed through committees, at the end of this legislative session. Several committees are beginning at 7:00 AM and some are not finishing until after 7:00 pm. In addition, we have had several days that the committee work is postponed and the entire House debates and votes on as many as 100 bills beginning at 8:00 AM. Normally the entire House begins at 1:00 and ends for afternoon committee hearings at 3:00. But in these last weeks, we often debate bills until after 4:00, causing the afternoon committees to extend into the evening. The problem is that we are approaching 2,000 combined bills between the House and Senate this year, which is more than any session since 1972. The problem began with the Governor front-loading the session with nearly 200 bills, plus individual legislators often introduce 40 to 60 bills, so the legal staff is backed up. Any bill requiring funding, once it is passed by the entire body, is then referred to Chair Jones’ Appropriation Committee, where they determine which bill will be funded based on the amount of tax dollars available. This is a slow process.
An example are the bills attempting to spend the Marijuana Tax dollars, which total over three times the millions of “pot” tax dollars being collected. To compound this situation, the Voters’ Initiative authorizing marijuana, promised every special interest group from veterans to sportsmen, a percentage of the taxes to entice voters to approve the sale of marijuana. (Welcome to Colorado!) The problem is that this is unconstitutional for anyone to authorize the spending of tax dollars, it only happens at the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, in our past, our incompetent (past) Attorney General (Tim Fox) and incompetent (past) Secretary of State (Cory Stapleton) allowed an illegal voter initiative to be placed on the ballot! Consequently, now naïve citizens are demanding the spending allocations in the initiative be honored which may not be the most prudent use of tax dollars.
My position is that marijuana tax dollars should go into the State General Fund and be allocated for law enforcement and mental health to contain the result of drug usage which is out-of-control. However, I did vote for a percentage to be given the counties for rural road maintenance, which should pacificate the sportsmen and urban recreationalists who are destroying rural roads.
None of the proposed Constitutional amendments are likely to make it to the ballots since it requires 100 legislators to approve them, and the Democrats (and a handful of “Democrat Republicans” … RHINO’S) will not support any of them.
HB 892 prohibits voting twice in the same election with a penalty of $5,000 and 18 months in jail! Also, SB 203, modeled after Texas and North Dakota laws, forbids the transfer of critical infrastructure and agricultural land to foreign adversaries listed by the Federal Government.
