The Montana Legislature is pushing through two house bills, both co-sponsored by area representative John Fitzpatrick, that fundamentally alter the way marijuana tax monies are allocated in direct opposition to the will of the voters.
HB 462 and HB 669 steal $15.8 million from wildlife habitat acquisition that Montana voters overwhelmingly approved when they passed I-190 in 2020.
Montana's libertarian lean is under attack by well-meaning but ultimately destructive politicos claiming to know what's best for Montanans and willing to take away our rights to push their agenda. As the saying goes, "God protect us from people who mean well."
Rep. Fitzpatrick and others bring out tired tropes in their advocacy, falsely linking recreational marijuana use to crime and addiction to more deadly drugs. They widely ignore the benefits to our economy.
Multiple studies show legal marijuana tied to significant reductions in deaths from opiate overdose.
But advocates of 462 and 669 falsely link rising hard drug use in Montana to legal marijuana rather than addressing the actual causes, economic disparity, and an underfunded border patrol.
Raiding Montana's wildlife habitat funds may be within the rights of our legislators. Still, hardly three years out from Montanans expressing their desire to fund that program with marijuana tax dollars specifically, it's a gross misuse of their power.
Montanans love our public lands. We love the freedoms granted to us in our federal and state constitutions. Continued efforts by the state legislature to centralize control in Helena and nanny Montanans are neither wanted nor needed.
Perhaps the next time Helena decides to raid voter-approved funds for ulterior purposes, they should think back to their $1 billion handout that decimated the state surplus.
Jesse Mullen is the co-owner of Ponderosa Publications and the Seeley Swan Pathfinder
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