(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Democrats' very naive call for a one-day special session – Daily Montanan [1] ['More From Author', 'July', 'George Ochenski'] Date: 2023-07-21 Faced with an increasingly hostile Montana about the recent skyrocketing property tax reappraisals, the state’s Democrats are backing a one-day special legislative session to deal with the issue. Make no mistake, this is a very, very bad idea that’s trying to paste over the dereliction of duty by both parties to comprehensively address the complex issue of which they were forewarned, but foolishly ignored. In the Democrats’ fantasy world, either Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte would call a special session or the legislators would call themselves into session. As noted in a number of nearly identical op-ed columns, they’re supporting “a one-day special session of the Legislature to reduce the state residential property tax rate from 1.35 to 0.94 percent.” While Montana’s residents would certainly welcome a comprehensive solution to the large and growing concern over whether their property taxes will force them out of their homes or bankrupt them, the “one-day” session is little more than naïve pandering from people like current legislators and former governor Brian Schweitzer who should know better. It’s a foundational tenet that “you should never negotiate from a position of weakness” — and never in Montana’s history have Democrats been in a weaker position than right now in their legislative super-minority. If the recent session showed us anything, it’s that Democrats have absolutely no chance of stopping anything the Republican super-majority wants to pass. None whatsoever, which was brutally proved by the incredible number of punitive and bad policy bills passed and signed into law by Gianforte. It’s a total mystery why the Democrats think these same Republican legislators wouldn’t immediately expand the scope of the session as soon as the first gavel fell. Given that there have been attempts to expand “the call” of virtually every special session in the last four decades, there’s absolutely no reason to believe that wouldn’t happen again — and they don’t have the votes to stop it. Moreover, considering the new laws already facing court challenges or rejected as unconstitutional — and nearly a million bucks for the state to defend those measures — it only makes sense that Republicans would love to “take another bite at the apple” on the same and even more issues. And who knows what the “Freedom Caucus” might come up with given another chance to peddle its ideological drivel. As anyone who has ever dealt with special legislative sessions knows, they are absolutely the worst way to make law — let alone in one day! Montanans’ constitutional right to observe and participate in our own government is basically non-existent during special sessions. Why? Because special sessions move so quickly there simply isn’t time to read the bills, provide notice of hearings, opportunity to submit testimony, or review amendments added in committees. We won’t even be able to know how our so-called “representatives” are voting until it’s too late. Nothing about the soaring property reappraisal is simple — nothing. Nor will it be sufficiently addressed by the “simple fix” the Democrats somehow think they’ll force the Republican legislative super-majority and governor to accept. It would be laughable were it not so tragic. Make no mistake, this is an issue that threatens the financial stability of most of the state’s population — and citizens from property owners to renters deserve every opportunity to weigh in, not watch helplessly from the bleachers. This is not about grandstanding or “scoring points” in the endlessly stupid Republican-versus-Democrat game politicians love to play. This is about our homes, our families, and our future — and we need good, sound governance and tax policy right now — not a hit-and-run one-day legislative fiasco. George Ochenski is a longtime Helena resident, an environmental activist and Montana’s longest-running columnist. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/07/21/the-democrats-very-naive-call-for-a-one-day-special-session/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/