The far-right leadership revolt in the U.S. House proved a popcorn-worthy spectacle not viewed for a century. Republicans in the Montana House proposed easier means to send stuck bills from committee directly onto the chamber floor for full debate.
Extreme policy, masquerading as common-sense solutions, is routinely paraded through the halls of Helena seeking a home in law. For the past two years, Republicans enjoyed all the votes needed to enact any law they prefer for Montanans. The state Supreme Court found handfuls of these new Montana laws patently unconstitutional.
Today, Montana Republicans control two-thirds of the Legislature and enjoy supermajority powers. And boy, oh boy, are they excited with over 50 changes to the Montana Constitution.
Proposed changes to the state Constitution include everything from making voting more complicated to outlawing abortion to jerry-rigging taxes to empowering sheriffs to disempowering judges to gerrymandering political redistricting.
With over two-thirds of the Legislature belonging to one political party, expect plenty of infighting about how best to spend and return the hefty state surpluses that Sen. Jon Tester delivered for Montanans via the U.S. Senate.
In the past two years housing prices have doubled. It’s a local onslaught put on by newcomers, short-term rentals, investment housing corps, new state laws, and exorbitant rents.
Montana remains a top travel destination for tourists with visitors spending pocketfuls of money on the local economy. No amount of travel advertising will stop the flow of people wanting to experience the greatest state in the nation. We have it: the great outdoors, super amenities, fast internet, and that Montana way of life everyone wants to protect.
Scrapping more local control to build hundreds or thousands of new apartments in Montana won’t help locals unless the rent is guaranteed affordable to working class people. Charging workers $2,000 monthly, that’s $20,000 to $30,000 yearly in rent, isn’t helping small business retain employees or local families seeking a place to grow.
Republican lawmakers in Helena are thrilled over supermajority control. They continue to run Montana unabashed. The party whose statewide candidates garnered just over half the popular vote now control two-thirds of the legislative districts. Redistricting should realign the ratio.
The new Montana is as beautiful as the old Montana and all locals deserve representation, not just the majority. Nearly half of Montanans voted for an alternative. Our ways of life remain secure, yet significantly more expensive and stressful given the cost of taxes, housing, and rent.
Not many voters want extreme lawmakers to govern Montana through ideology. Constituents remain concerned about pocketbook issues like wage increases, the cost of rent and housing, helping teenagers into trade school and college, or helping grandparents find assisted living.
It’s suddenly too expensive for many workers and seniors to live in the new Montana, a place we love and call home.
Locals want reasonable policy, not chewable soundbites. For years politicians keep telling us that our property taxes are going down, while bills rapidly escalate. We keep hearing how polices are moderate and reasonable while the laws coming from the Legislature seem quite extreme and unconstitutional.
Extreme views from our state Legislature will hungrily push their vision of a new Montana upon the electorate and may well have the override votes of any prospective veto from a governor, up for reelection, whose future depends on regular families.
When words ring hollow, actions matter. Speaking like a moderate won’t resonate with seniors who see neighborhood assisted living facilities shuttered due to state action. It won’t matter to parents who lost childcare due to state indifference, or workers who can’t find housing due to state preemption.
The new Montana has a few things to learn. We’ll see how we like what the supermajority Legislature has to teach.
Mike Jopek formerly served in the Montana Legislature and is now a farmer in Whitefish.