HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that found three bills from the 2021 state legislative session overstepped onto the authority of the Montana University System Board of Regents.

The most prominent of the bills was House Bill 112, which banned transgender female athletes at public schools from participating in women’s sports. A majority of justices agreed that bill was unconstitutional as applied to colleges and universities.

In addition to HB 112, the court also ruled against:

· House Bill 349, which limited how colleges and universities could discipline students for certain speech and when they can deny recognition to student organizations.
· A section of Senate Bill 319 that would have required student organizations that also function as political committees – specifically the advocacy group MontPIRG – to be funded through a fee that students can pay if they opt in, instead of one they are required to pay unless they opt out.

A large group of individuals and organizations filed suit over these bills. In their arguments, the plaintiffs made the case that the Montana Constitution gives the Board of Regents full authority to oversee the state’s university system, and that the bills infringed on that authority. In 2022, a district judge in Gallatin County sided with the plaintiffs.

Attorneys for the state argued the plaintiffs did not have legal standing to challenge the laws. On HB 112 specifically, they said the law was not targeting the Board of Regents or universities specifically, and that the board had not established a policy on transgender athletes.

Justice Ingrid Gustafson wrote in her ruling – joined by Chief Justice Mike McGrath and Justices Laurie McKinnon and Jim Shea – that the plaintiffs had established standing by showing they would be harmed by the bills, and that they could make the argument the bills unconstitutionally infringed on the Board’s authority even if the Board itself did not sue.

Gustafson said the Board of Regents had essentially expressed a judgment on how to handle transgender athletes by linking participation to NCAA and NAIA requirements. She said HB 112 does address elementary and high schools as well as colleges and universities, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t infringing on the Board.

“The Legislature cannot avoid Article X, § 9’s grant of power to the Board by simply adding non-MUS institutions to the law,” she wrote.

Gustafson also said, because the state had focused its arguments on stating HB 112 was not unconstitutional, they had essentially conceded on the other two bills, so the district court’s ruling against them should stand. The state said they centered their defense on the merits on HB 112 for briefing reasons, not because they were conceding the other bills were unconstitutional.

While four out of seven justices agreed to find the bills unconstitutional, they were split on whether the plaintiffs were entitled to receive attorney fees from the state. The district judge had ruled against the plaintiffs’ request. Because a majority of justices didn’t agree fees were warranted, that decision remained in place.

Justice Jim Rice wrote a dissenting opinion, in which he argued the plaintiffs did not have standing in the case and that only the Board of Regents itself should have had the authority to file suit claiming an infringement of its authority. Justice Dirk Sandefur agreed with Rice, but added his own short opinion saying that, if the plaintiffs did have standing, he would agree that the bills were unconstitutional as the majority had ruled.

Read the justices’ full opinions below:

HELENA — A federal judge has blocked Montana from enforcing one section of a 2023 law that established requirements for voters changing their registration.

Last year, the Montana Legislature passed House Bill 892, sponsored by Rep. Lyn Hellegaard, R-Missoula. Supporters said the bill was intended to ensure people couldn’t vote twice in one election. While Montana already had a law in place saying no one could vote more than once in a single election, HB 892 added a specific prohibition on voting once in Montana and in an “equivalent election” in another state.

One provision of HB 892 said voters can’t “purposefully remain registered to vote in more than one place” and that they must provide their previous registration information when registering to vote at their new location.

MontPIRG and the Montana Federation of Public Employees sued, saying that language went beyond the goal of stopping double voting and left voters at risk of criminal penalties even if they never intended to vote twice. They argued the provision wasn’t clear about what was required of voters, and that some had legitimate reasons they might have registrations in more than one place.

Attorneys for the state, defending HB 892, said the law has been in effect and there hasn’t been any evidence it’s interfered with political participation, and that it would be a mistake to change the rules so close to the 2024 election.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris said in a ruling Wednesday that the plaintiffs had shown a plausible case that the language was too broad. He put a preliminary injunction in place to stop the state from enforcing only the section on multiple registrations, allowing the rest of HB 892 to remain in effect. Morris said in his ruling that officials had testified that section wouldn’t substantially change the voter registration procedure in Montana, so temporarily blocking it wouldn’t create confusion for voters in this election.

Read the full ruling below:

Administrators of the Montana Food Bank Network say efforts to feed the hungry across the Treasure State are taking a major leap forward, as the agency finally commences construction on a new warehouse and headquarters.

“We’re so excited to have you join us and help us celebrate what this new facility is going to do for MFBN.”

Montana Food Bank Network CEO Gayle Carlson was beaming Thursday, as she and her dedicated staff, along with dozens of supporters and partners, gathered to break ground on the long-awaited warehouse and distribution center, completing a goal first launched in 2019.

New warehouse west of Missoula

MFBN leaders had discussed several options for the new warehouse, but felt remaining in Missoula was the best strategic decision for the long term.

“You know Montana’s a big state, and when you’re the only statewide food bank serving this area has massive challenges and a lot of it is the pressure of working out of a facility in one location. We have to cover that entire state from Missoula, and so our core facility has seen its better days.” 

READ MORE: Over 100,000 Montanans Are Food “Insecure”

New opportunities to feed 1 in 12 Montanans coping with hunger

Following a blessing of the ground with tribal representatives, Carlson and the others grasped ceremonial shovels and launched Montana’s hunger campaign into a new future, filled with new opportunities. Carlson and her team say the new facility will improve efficiency, providing more room for storing food when it becomes available from national sources, and giving local food pantries a place to store donations, especially from local sources.

Attention will now focus on the public campaign to raise additional funds for the new facility.    

Construction is slated to take 14 months.