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It's the halftime show in Helena – Daily Montanan [1]

['More From Author', 'March', 'George Ochenski']

Date: 2023-03-10  

The Montana Legislature just hit its half-way mark, called “transmittal,” in the 90-day session.

It also means Montanans have a chance to grade their legislators’ performance. And in that regard, there’s plenty to consider, especially when it comes to voting for really bad bills or against good and necessary measures.

Struggling to deal with a huge backlog of bills, as reported: “Lawmakers voted on more than 150 bills up for debate between House and Senate floor sessions on Wednesday as they worked against a transmittal deadline looming Friday. Among the bills heard Wednesday include policies related to stream access; hunting, fishing and trapping; child care; elections; criminal justice and substance abuse and mental health treatment funding.”

It’s ludicrous, of course, to even entertain the idea that such complex and incredibly important measures received the scrutiny and open debate on the floor of the House and Senate so necessary to crafting good law. Those with any experience in the language of law know that even one word — such as the difference between “may” and “shall” — can completely change the actual implementation and utility of the measure. When it comes to the “unintended consequences” the result of sloppy law-making is virtually inevitable and usually produces very negative outcomes.

But with Republican supermajorities in both the House and Senate and a Republican governor, it sure looks like there was a significant lack of serious consideration of the laws by which all Montanans will be forced to live. For many bills, it appears to have amounted to little more than “if the sponsor has an R behind their name, push the green button. If it’s a D, push the red button.”

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