UPDATE: Contrary to his colleagues’ claims, House Minority Leader Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, confirmed Wednesday that House Majority Leader Bob Bergren, D-Havre, gave him as much time as he wanted to hear House Joint Resolutions 24 and 26. The false accusations, according to Bergren, prompted people to call and threaten him at his home and office. Sales maintained that Bergren should not have held on to the resolutions until Monday.
Here’s my original post:
Republicans are livid, claiming that two resolutions urging Congress to “halt deficit spending and honor Montana’s sovereignty” didn’t receive fair hearings. Rep. David Howard, R-Park City, argues that since House Joint Resolutions 24 and 26 were scheduled “the last day they could possibly be heard,” Montanans didn’t have ample time to comment on them.
At the Rotunda Report, the state GOP’s official blog, Howard is encouraging people to “get mad” and call Democratic Speaker of the House Bob Bergren’s office. But Bergren told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that Republicans were given as much time as they wanted to hear the resolutions and they chose an hour. That apparently wasn’t enough, as people drove to the Capitol from around the state to testify in favor of the legislation.
Chronicle writer Daniel Person’s story, which includes an awkward House floor exchange, is worth a read.