Political Reality

Politics at its core is a dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all game, where elections have tangible, far-reaching and serious consequences. And those consequences become more apparent each time we reach the end of a legislative session. In Montana, Republicans control the...

Bills Still in Play

As the days grow longer, thoughts turn to the end of the session. It’s harder to stay indoors, and participants find their minds wandering during meetings. We’re not talking about the end of a college semester; we’re talking about the fast-approaching end of the 2017...

Last Minute Threat to Marriage

Yesterday marked an important deadline in the 2017 legislative session. It was the transmittal deadline for all revenue bills and those bills that created legislative referendums to be voted on by the people. Any of these types of bills that failed to pass from one...

Statesman or Hack?

In every legislative session there’s at least one bill that no one saw coming, and that eventually takes center stage. This year, it appears to be Senate Bill 305, better known as the Mail-In Ballot Bill. It’s also becoming known as the “gift that just keeps on...

The Battle is Not Over

One of the most frustrating things for a lobbyist is to spend months working on a bill, lining up testimony, answering a myriad of questions, receiving commitments from legislators, then having those same legislators suddenly go south and switch their votes,...

We Want Gridlock

There’s an old saying, “What goes around comes around,” and what’s coming soon is a predictable reality check that voters put into play clear back in November. I’m talking about a flood of bills that will pass both the Montana House and Senate only to run smack into...