Montana

Kendall Cotton: Eroding Montana’s Constitution

Published

2 years ago

June 5, 2022

KENDALL COTTON

Shortly after celebrating the 50 yr anniversary of Montana’s Structure, a proposed poll measure seems to be an try and forged it apart.

Backers of I-191 search voter approval to designate the Gallatin and Madison River watersheds as Excellent Useful resource Waters (ORW), a protected standing solely present in nationwide parks and wilderness. In doing so, I-191 circumvents the financial protections afforded to Montanans by our Structure and units a harmful precedent for the long run.

Whereas legislative our bodies have authority to levy taxes and applicable new spending, regulators may “spend” taxpayer {dollars} by imposing laws that value property homeowners dearly to adjust to. Montana’s Structure accounts for this by guaranteeing property homeowners the due technique of legislation in regulatory proceedings and simply compensation earlier than a “regulatory taking”— when authorities actions end result within the proprietor’s property curiosity being taken or broken.

Thanks to those vital protections, Montana state companies have rigorous processes in place to afford due course of and guarantee coverage selections are constitutionally and economically sound. As an example, the legislation requires all state companies to conduct a radical evaluation of how every regulation impacts property homeowners previous to implementation.

I-191 bypasses constitutional protections to impose the desire of a well-connected Bozeman primarily based legislation agency backing the proposal. The proposal has already been twice rejected by the state Board of Environmental Evaluation (BER), which concluded that it could lead to a big regulatory taking, to not point out be virtually and economically unfeasible.

Legal professional Basic Austin Knudsen echoed BER’s findings when he discovered I-191 legally inadequate, saying the proposal “unquestionably” causes a regulatory taking with out offering simply compensation. After failing to persuade regulators to approve their proposal, I-191 backers are actually betting they will persuade voters to do their bidding.

Montanans can solely guess on the penalties to the state if I-191 passes. Not like when this proposal was beforehand submitted to regulators, this time there might be no environmental affect assertion, no social or financial affect evaluation and no state or native authorities session.

If the 2007 affect assertion from the Division of Environmental High quality (DEQ) is any information, Montanans can anticipate I-191 to destroy financial exercise in Gallatin County. DEQ estimated the proposal would cut back the residential growth allowed in Large Sky by 89% and industrial growth by 99%. Native jobs in development, actual property, transportation, and native authorities could be misplaced. Inexpensive workforce housing initiatives, so desperately wanted, could be shut down.

An unlimited coalition of teams has lined as much as oppose I-19I, once more predicting detrimental results to the native economic system, property homeowners and environmental restoration. One other frequent theme introduced up by many is the hurt performed to the sturdy collaborative course of at the moment in place with the regulating companies.

Quite a few native outside and conservation teams have labored tirelessly for years collaborating with these companies on river entry and restoration initiatives. Now they fear these initiatives might be destroyed by I-191, science and native enter be damned.

The precedent set by I-191 may open pandora’s field for dangerous laws imposed by controversial activist teams with out of state big-money backing. Any radical group with sufficient cash to affect voters may merely select to sidestep regular regulatory process to impose pricey laws through the initiative course of, depriving Montanans of the financial protections owed to them by our Structure.

The Montana Structure’s assured financial protections are foundational to our lifestyle, shielding Montanans from radical, big-moneyed influences and making certain native collaboration round state coverage selections. By circumventing Montana’s Structure, I-191 erodes these vital financial protections. If something, we must be including extra emphasis on the financial and societal impacts of laws, not much less.

Kendall Cotton is president and CEO of the Frontier Institute, a suppose tank devoted to breaking down authorities obstacles so all Montanans can thrive.

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Montana

Blues Traveler/JJ Grey & Mofro an Insanely Good Match for Montana

Published

2 hours ago

July 4, 2024

Press Room

Blues Traveler/JJ Grey & Mofro an Insanely Good Match for Montana

The Kettlehouse Amphitheater will be rockin’ with the most perfect co-headlining show on July 9th. This is the kind of rockin’ show, packed with songs you know, that creates the kind of Montana live show memories that last forever.

WHO: Blues Traveler and JJ Grey & Mofro (co-headlining tour)
GENRE OF MUSIC: Pop, Rock, Blues, Jam
HOMETOWN: Princeton, NJ | Jacksonville, FL
WHERE: KettleHouse Amphitheater (605 Coldsmoke Lane, Bonner MT)
WHEN: Tuesday, July 9th, 2024
TIME: Doors 6:00pm // Show 7:00pm
TICKETS: General Admission standing pit tickets, reserved stadium seating tickets, and general admission lawn tickets are available for this show. (Link and ticket prices are below.)

“Blues Traveler continue to resonate as loudly as ever among audiences nearly four decades since their emergence. It’s why their catalog endures, comprising three gold-selling records, one platinum LP, and the 6x-platinum opus Four highlighted by the GRAMMY® Award-winning “Run Around.” It’s why they can still roll through any town on tour and pack a shed or amphitheater. It’s why they even notched their most recent GRAMMY® nod in 2022.”

$55.00 General Admission Pit (subject to fees) | General admission pit tickets allow access to the standing room only section located directly in front of the stage.

$45.00 – $65.00 Reserved Stadium Seating (subject to fees) | Reserved Stadium Seating tickets allow access to the reserved, stadium style seating section located just behind the main pit of the amphitheater.

$37.00 General Admission Lawn (subject to fees) | General Admission Lawn tickets allow access to the upper standing section of the amphitheater located just above the reserved stadium seating section.

All concerts are held rain or shine. Be prepared for extremes such as sunshine, heat, wind or rain. All tickets are non-refundable for the Kettlehouse Amphitheater. This is an all ages show (as are most shows at the Kettlehouse.)

BUY TICKETS FOR BLUES TRAVELER AND JJ GREY & MOFRO HERE

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Gallery Credit: mwolfe

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Montana

University of Montana graduate students from new union, one of largest in state • Daily Montanan

Published

9 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Press Room

University of Montana graduate students from new union, one of largest in state • Daily Montanan

Graduate students at the University of Montana in Missoula have formed a union after two years of organizing, and with more than 400 eligible members, it will be one of the largest in the state.

The Department of Labor and Industry certified the UM Graduate Employees Union last week, according to the Montana Federation of Public Employees.

“Our organizing message was simple,” said Colette Berg, an organizing lead and UM graduate employee, in a statement from MFPE. “Graduate employees’ wages, benefits, and working conditions aren’t keeping up with Missoula’s cost of living or honoring our roles in research, teaching, and learning. Everyone realizes we’re a lynchpin for UM, and we look forward to bargaining collectively with UM’s leadership to collaboratively address the challenges GEU members face.”

The labor movement has been active in the U.S. in recent years, including in Missoula, where the cost of housing has far outpaced wages. However, the proportion of workers who belong to a union has generally declined in the country during the last couple of decades.

Graduate students are especially difficult to organize because they are spread across a campus and work on different contracts that can range from two to five years, according to the Montana Federation of Public Employees.

According to the Montana State University Graduate Employee Organization in Bozeman, they’re also not easy to sustain. The Graduate Employee Organization counts 169 members.

MSU Graduate Employee Organization President M Wittkop said a graduate student union has challenges that are different from other locals. That’s because a campus union is made up of students — whose members by definition are constantly graduating and moving on.

MSU graduates formed their student union in 2015, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. Bozeman also has notoriously high housing costs.

A report from an April 2024 graduate union assembly in Bozeman said the local will need new members in order to avoid dissolution. However, Wittkop also said the union has driven significant wins for its members, including in 2023.

“We got one of the biggest raises across the board for all graduates,” Wittkop said.

The increase amounts to roughly $100 more a month for the minimum allowable stipend a graduate student can be paid, or currently $760 a month, they said. The minimum will go up another $100 on Aug. 1.

“We also put in more strict limits on how many classes a TA (teaching assistant) can be assigned and changed language around work environment to protect students against ‘PI abuse,’” Wittkop said.

(That’s the potential abuse of power a thesis advisor or PI, a principal investigator, might enact over a student, they said.)

The graduate union also completed a cost of living survey, which among other things, showed 45% of respondents had skipped “necessary medical care” to save money, and 46% had skipped meals or eaten less to save money.

Additionally, the survey found 57% of graduate students needed second jobs, such as pet sitting, while in school. Of 826 graduate assistants, 184 responded to the 2024 survey, according to the union.

Wittkop said they believe the union has the potential for longevity if it can find new members, but the current challenge is broadcasting its existence.

“We’re going to have to really put in the work to find these people,” Wittkop said.

The Montana University System already counts 23 collective bargaining agreements covering roughly 2,374 people of an estimated 9,000 total employees, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. That doesn’t include the new union at UM.

Faculty at the Bozeman campus formed a union that was approved in 2011 but then decertified in April 2013, according to the Commissioner’s Office.

At UM, a faculty union and classified staff union have long been active, and MFPE President Amanda Curtis said the organization looks forward to supporting the new graduate student union as well. Berg could not be reached for additional comment.

“We are so proud of the graduate employees at UM who have now organized and certified Montana’s largest new union in years,” Curtis said in a statement. “Their commitment to ensuring graduate employees have a strong voice in their working conditions and wages is what unionism is all about.”

A couple of years ago, the Missoula Tenants Union formed in the Garden City, and nurses at Providence St. Patrick Hospital recently — and visibly — renegotiated their contract; signs advocating support for the nurses popped up across the community.

The Montana Federation of Public Employees said collective bargaining at UM has been marked by a respectful and fair relationship between union members and university leadership for decades.

In an email, UM spokesperson Dave Kuntz said the university worked with the Department of Labor and Industry and the Commissioner’s Office throughout the process — clearly defined in statute — with graduate students.

“Graduate students are critical to UM,” Kuntz said in an email. “Their scholarship, research, and teaching help to advance our entire state and address many of the most pressing issues facing society.”

The labor movement has been historically strong in Montana. Last year, roughly 13% of workers were represented by a union compared to roughly 10% of those in the U.S., according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The news release from Montana Federation of Public Employees said the state certified the new Graduate Employees Union at UM on June 25, and it is MFPE’s newest local with “full collective bargaining rights to secure a fair contract.”

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