Montana Republican legislators this week introduced committee assignments for the upcoming session, the primary the place the occasion will maintain a supermajority, with a mixture of reasonable and conservative lawmakers as chairs.
Regardless of a change in Home Republican management that displays the proper wing of the caucus, committee chair assignments for the upcoming session flowed extra from expertise than from an ideological shift.
Incoming Speaker Matt Regier largely left committee chairs the identical from final session, or elevated vice-chairs to the highest function on committees whose previous chairs had been termed out. In an interview Tuesday, the Kalispell Republican mentioned every task was a person choice.
“We had conversations with every of the chairs, and I’ve full confidence that they’re all going to run nice committees,” Regier mentioned.
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Committee chairs maintain the facility over scheduling for invoice hearings and votes of their teams. Which means they’ve the flexibility to successfully kill a invoice by not scheduling it for a listening to or vote earlier than key deadlines. In addition they run their committees and set a lot of the tone for the work accomplished in these teams over the 90-day session that begins Jan. 4.
Regier is overseeing the most important GOP Home majority in a decade, with 68 Republicans to the Democrats’ 32 lawmakers. He was elected final week over previous Speaker Professional Tempore Casey Knudsen, of Malta, who was seen as a extra reasonable different to Regier.
Nonetheless, a lot of Regier’s committee chair assignments went to lawmakers aligned with the so-called “Conservative Options Caucus,” a bloc of GOP lawmakers who’ve at instances labored with Democrats in previous periods to advance priorities like Medicaid enlargement and infrastructure funding.
Amongst these appointments are the chairs of the Enterprise and Finance; Schooling; Fish, Wildlife and Parks; State Administration; and Guidelines committees. Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, will stay chair of the highly effective Appropriations Committee.
A pacesetter inside the Options Caucus, Jones mentioned final week that he anticipated Regier to defer extra to seniority than the hard-line Republicans who supported him as speaker.
“With this many individuals, there’s no good ‘truthful,’” Jones mentioned final week, following the caucus’s vote for its new speaker. He famous that whereas it’s atypical, the Home can override a speaker’s assignments with a ground vote. “In the event you had been to start in such a fashion that it took a ground vote to override you and there was a willingness to have interaction in such a vote, we’re most likely off to a tough begin.”
A number of members of the occasion’s proper wing will maintain the highest spots on different committees, together with Human Providers, Pure Assets and Judiciary. Regier appointed his sister, Rep. Amy Regier of Kalispell, to the highest Judiciary submit. She served because the vice-chair in the course of the 2021 session.
If the identical sample of succession holds within the 2025 session, the chairmanships may show way more favorable for the occasion’s proper wing subsequent time round. The GOP vice chairs chosen for a lot of committees draw from the occasion’s proper, from Appropriations and Home Administration to Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
In a single notable exception to the succession of vice-chairs to chairmanships, Rep. Jennifer Carlson will take the helm of Home Human Providers as a substitute of Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, who stays the committee’s vice-chair.
A freshman legislator final session, Carlson gained prominence because the sponsor of Montana’s “vaccine discrimination” invoice, which turned legislation in 2021 and made Montana the one state to ban vaccine mandates for many personal companies.
“Rep. Carlson has spent loads of time in there in Well being and Human Providers,” Regier mentioned. “She’s invested, she is aware of that division in and out, has been working with that division. I do know her friends know that too, have seen that tough work from her within the interim.”
Home Minority Chief Kim Abbott mentioned she didn’t see any main surprises within the majority appointments.
“Our expectation is that chairs will run the committees, adhere to the foundations, adhere to decorums and be respectful and communicative with our vice-chairs,” she mentioned Tuesday.
Every committee has two vice-chairs, one chosen by every occasion. Practically all of Abbott’s vice-chair appointments had been Democrats with prior expertise on that committee.
“Our management group’s method to committee assignments was constructing the most effective group that might ship for Montanans on every committee,” she mentioned.
The Home committees the place the chairs return from final session are:
- Rep. Joshua Kassmier, Agriculture
- Rep. Llew Jones, Appropriations;
- Rep. Ross Fitzgerald, Fish, Wildlife and Parks;
- Rep. Steve Gunderson, Pure Assets
- Rep. Becky Beard, Taxation
- Rep. Denley Loge, Transportation.
The committees the place the vice chairs turned chairs are:
- Rep. Ed Buttrey, Enterprise and Labor
- Rep. Fred Anderson, Schooling
- Rep. Katie Zolnikov, Vitality, Expertise and Federal Relations
- Rep. Ross Fitzgerald, Fish, Wildlife and Parks;
- Rep. Amy Regier, Judiciary
- Rep. Larry Brewster, Native Authorities
- Rep. Casey Knudsen, Guidelines
The Senate’s Committee on Committees, made up of Republicans, makes appointments for that physique. Earlier chairs retained their positions, however a number of committees will see new chairs.
Republicans expanded their majority within the Senate by three to 34 seats to Democrats’ 16. Sen. Tom McGilvray, R-Billings, who chairs the Committee on Committees, famous that having extra Republicans means extra slots to fill on committees, which he mentioned labored to get these on the bulk into committees they requested.
“We speak to each senator on their preferences, their abilities and try this formally by a type despatched out pre–caucus,” he mentioned. “(The Committee on Committees) meets and considers all these issues.”
The Committee on Committees additionally considers seniority in addition to what are necessary points in legislators’ districts when making appointments, McGilvray mentioned.
Senate Minority Chief Pat Flowers of Belgrade mentioned Democrats had been usually pleased with the appointments and appreciated the work of the Committee on Committees.
“I feel (Democratic senators) acquired most committees the place they requested,” he mentioned. “There’re all the time exceptions and compromises to make, however usually they met loads of our requests and we acquired the expertise the place we would have liked it.”
The Senate committees with returning chairs are:
- Sen. Keith Regier, Judiciary,
- Sen. Daniel Salomon, Schooling,
- Sen. Steve Hinebauch, Fish and Sport
- Sen. Jeff Welborn, Pure Assets
- Sen. Mike Lang, Agriculture
The Senate Committees with new chairs are:
- Sen. Greg Hertz (earlier vice chair), Taxation
- Sen. Jason Small, Enterprise, Labor and Financial Affairs
- Sen. John Esp, Finance and Claims
- Sen. Chris Friedel, Native Authorities
- Sen. Tom McGilvray, Public Well being
- Sen. Walt Gross sales, Vitality
- Sen. Mike Cuffe, State Administration
- Sen. Theresa Manzella, Highways and Transportation