From the Capitol cloakroom

The 69th Legislative Session is now in its second week of deliberations. The House got off to a quick start with Committees commencing business on the second day of the assembly and has held hearings on over 100 bills.

The hot issue on the House floor this week was House Bill 121, a bill drafted to keep biological males from entering women’s restrooms, changing rooms and sleeping areas, in public facilities. To the vast majority of Montanans, that’s just common sense.

The Democratic Party has a contrary view and sought to defeat the legislation by claiming that it was discriminatory and would lead to litigation.

There is nothing discriminatory about telling a man that he cannot use the ladies’ restroom. However, the Democrats are correct in saying that it will lead to litigation. Of course, it will — by left-wing activists bent on imposing their toxic values on Montana. Having broken faith with the electorate in Montana on fundamental issues such as what is a man or woman, the Democratic Party has become a permanent, political minority in this state with little capacity to shape public policy. As such, without the backing of the people, it seeks to impose its will on Montana through the courtrooms of liberal judges.

Like it or not, biology is destiny and one can no more change their sex from male to female or, vice versa, than one can change their height from 5’6” to 6’5” just because they “feel tall” inside.

Every Democrat in the chamber voted against HB 121. I guess I missed something when I campaigned in both 2022 and 2024. I knocked on over 4,500 doors and talked with thousands of constituents. Not a single one told me that we needed to do more to promote a transgender agenda threatening to our wives and daughters.

Subcommittee F of the Appropriations Committee completed its hearing on the HB 9, the Cultural and Arts Grant Program, which I sponsored. Three entities from southwestern Montana are likely to receive grants, one from Deer Lodge County and two from Silver Bow.

There were no applications from either Powell or Granite County.

I am also carrying HB 13, the State Pay Plan bill. It was heard in the House Appropriations Committee last week and I expect it to be voted out of committee later this week and be debated on the floor in the near future. The bill is extremely important to the thousands of folks in our neighborhood who work at the prison, Warm Springs, Montana Tech, the highway department and in state offices throughout the region.

HB 13 proposes a salary adjustment of $1.00 per hour, or 2.5% of salary, whichever is greater, in both 2025 and 2026. This structure provides greater percentage increases to employees at the lower end of the state pay scale. The bill also increases the employer’s share for employee health insurance and increases the meal allowances for traveling state employees.

On Tuesday, I presented HB 12 to the subcommittee. This bill contains a grant program for historic preservation. The program is open to units of government, for-profit and nonprofit corporations. The bill lists 63 projects totaling almost $23 million in grant requests. There is, however, only $6.3 million available to fund the program. The bill contains four applications for projects in Deer Lodge County and one each in Granite and Powell. When the final bill is crafted and enacted by the Legislature, it will have changed substantially but not every applicant will be happy.