The Montana Legislature used to have the best legislative website in the country for tracking bills — that’s what Sen. Andrea Olsen was told roughly eight years ago.

This year, a new system launched, complete with new bugs.

The chief information officer for the Legislative Services Division said Wednesday a technology team is delivering code on a daily basis to fix the problems, and the goal is to have a top-notch system once again.

In the meantime, however, legislators, lobbyists and members of the public are running into roadblocks in trying to follow the work of the 69th Montana Legislature.

“Unfortunately, it truly is a disaster to start the session without efficient capacity to track bills,” Olsen said. “This is for us as legislators, but particularly for the public.”

Olsen, a lawyer, said the lack of transparency also runs contrary to protections in the Montana Constitution.

“We have a constitutional right to know, and a constitutional right to participate, and those two things are infringed when we have a system that is so difficult, and when there’s so many bugs to still work out,” Olsen said.

Jerry Howe, executive director of Legislative Services Division, and Dale Gow, chief information officer, said Wednesday the old system was a workhorse, but nonetheless, on its last legs.

Howe said he feared it wouldn’t make it through 2025, and the Legislative Services Division decided to create a new one in house. He said the goal is to have a website that works better than the old one, and the team is making progress.

“We understand that there is some frustration,” Howe said. “Be patient with us as we build this system from scratch. We think that people will be pleased with it as it unfolds and as it reaches its maturity.”

Problems, some solutions

Charles Denowh, with the Montana Group, has worked legislative sessions since 2003, and he said the old system was “very functional.” However, he said it was also dated, and the user interface was rudimentary.

“I understand why they decided it was time for an upgrade,” Denowh said.

He said Legislative Services couldn’t fully test the new system until the session started, and launching now means having to “fix it on the fly.”

“I feel bad for those guys,” Denowh said of the workers. “I know a lot of people are pretty angry at them. They’re fixing it as fast as they can, and I’ve been pretty impressed at how dedicated they’ve been to getting things right.”

He said he’s figured out some workarounds, but some features are still missing.

At least midday Wednesday, the third day of the session, he still hadn’t seen committee assignments listed on legislator pages. He’d also seen cancelled hearings still show up as taking place in a data export feature.

“That’s probably been the biggest difficulty I’ve seen is getting an accurate committee hearing schedule,” said Denowh, a lobbyist.

In the Senate, a political power struggle is taking place, and committee meetings have stalled. The stalling ended up demonstrating new shortfalls in the system too, Howe said.

“When they cancelled hearings in bulk, it created issues we had not foreseen or contemplated in the past,” Howe said.

On the other hand, he said it means developers can address it and create a more robust site.

“I’m not sure the old system would have accommodated the cancellations,” Howe said.

Howe said the redo didn’t come out of some desire to improve the system, it came out of necessity.

“We got through last session, but it took a lot of effort and work to hold that thing together,” he said.

A major upgrade was needed, and Gow said they decided to bring the project in house with a new suite of applications and the goal of “all the functionality that everybody has been using the past 30 years.”

They couldn’t dig into it right after the 2023 session because staff still have work to do afterwards, he said. They get funding to start their projects in July, but he said money wasn’t the issue, and time was.

“This was replacing 30-year-old technology within 10 months to get to baseline for the session,” Gow said.

A security application that was part of the project had some issues too, and that took nearly two months to sort out, Gow said. But he said the new applications are more secure.

“They used to be wide open,” he said.

In the past, he said, they relied on someone in Ireland to help fix system problems, and they decided to do the baseline work in their own shop in order to support the system themselves.

“Now we’re able to do all of these enhancements and bug fixes in house, and we’re able to turn those around very quickly,” Gow said.

People are calling to report problems, and since Monday, the number of tickets related to the new website was 51 as of Wednesday, Howe said. That’s out of 202 total tickets for all tech issues, such as a legislator needing help with a printer.

Gow said eight developers and six analysts are working to address problems, in addition to their other duties.

A timeline for when the new system could be considered largely complete wasn’t set.

“It does take time to develop software in that way, and we’re confident that in time, this new system will be able to accomplish all the needs the public has with respect to bill status and transparency of the legislative process,” Howe said.

Matt Leow, with Tenacious Campaigns, said the old system was not just functional, it was familiar. The lobbyist said the new system is making Capitol veterans like him, around for 20 years, feeling like it’s the first day of school.

“What people are doing to try to address the problem is they’re buying the subscription services, which is great if you’re a well-paid lobbyist, not so great if you’re a member of the public who wants to stay informed and get involved in the process,” Leow said.

Years ago, Olsen said she attended the National Conference of State Legislators, and software sales people trying to sell bill tracking programs wouldn’t try to sell to her when they learned she was from Montana.

“They looked at me and said, ‘Oh, well you already have the best system in the country,’” Olsen said.

So she said she appreciates the goal with the new system is to emulate the old one, although the clock is ticking with the lack of transparency.

“It’s a disaster for public notice purposes,” Olsen said.

Sen. John Fuller, a Kalispell Republican, said he hasn’t heard complaints from constituents, but the slowdown in the Senate is part of the bigger picture too.

“Of course, part of the problem is we haven’t done anything yet,” Fuller said. “When we start cranking stuff out, if it’s not fixed by then — I think it will be — but if we start cranking stuff out, then people have the right to get upset.”

He said no one is to blame because the project involves a lot of changes, and he knows staff are working hard on the “hiccups.”

“We’re trying to increase accessibility while maintaining cybersecurity. Duh. Those are opposing ends,” Fuller said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the number of tickets logged for problems with the website, which was unavailable at press time.

Jewish-American dancer, singer, and activist Montana Tucker shared a video on Wednesday wherein she, and members of the Shiraz Dance Ensemble, dance in honor of the Iranian women who have stood against the Islamic regime in Tehran.

Tucker shared the video, which was initiated and produced by Combat Antisemitism Movement, on Instagram to her 3.2 million followers. She posted it along with Noor Pahlavi, the eldest child of former Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi.

“This is dedicated to the women of Iran who stood fearlessly in the face of fanaticism and brutality to fight for their basic human rights,” Tucker wrote on Instagram. “For 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, beaten to death for showing her hair. For Nika Shakarami, 16, whose body was stolen by the regime after her murder. For Sarina Esmailzadeh, 16, beaten to death by security forces for protesting. For Hadis Najafi, 22, who danced for freedom.”

The dance, choreographed by Iris Delshad Maymon, was filmed in Jaffa, Israel, CAM noted.

“For the thousands of school girls and women who dared to burn their hijabs, cut their hair, and march in defiance of the Islamic Republic, knowing it could and had cost countless their lives. For the Iranians who want to reclaim and rebuild their country.”

Iranian women who opposed the Iranian regime

The video features images and short descriptions of Mahsa Amini, Nika Shakarami, Yahoo Daryaei, and Paraastoo Ahmadi, Iranian women who opposed the Iranian regime. Amini and Shakarami were killed by the Islamic Republic

“Iranian women must be supported in this fight. Israeli women, too, know the brutal impact of this regime and its proxies,” Tucker continued. “We stand TOGETHER, bound by the cries of ‘Women, Life, Freedom,’ against a regime that denies ALL of us dignity, safety, and choice.”

Within hours of being published on Instagram, the video amassed over 10,000 likes.

“This dance is our REBELLION. It’s a tribute to the fallen, a symbol of UNITY, and a call to action,” Tucker added. “To every woman fighting for her voice to be heard: we SEE you, we STAND with you, and we WILL NOT be SILENT.”

CAM Public Affairs Officer Natalie Sanandaji, a Persian-American Jewish woman, coordinated the dance project, CAM stated. Sanandaji is a survivor the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, when terrorists killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others in southern Israel. Sanandaji was at the Nova Music Festival in Re’im.

“Under the shadow of the Islamic regime, the women of Iran are not just battling for their rights — they are fighting for their lives,” Sanandaji said. “For too long, their voices have been silenced, and their basic liberties denied. Yet, despite the brutality they endure, they continue to resist with inspirational strength.”

“The unity between Iranian and Israeli women is a testament to the power of human solidarity,” she added. “By standing together, they show that freedom is a universal desire transcending traditional religious, cultural, and political divides.” 

The Montana Public Service Commission elected former and incoming commissioner Brad Molnar as its new president this week, and it discussed legislative priorities for the session, including a bill that would make “extensive” changes to the way utilities plan for energy resources.

Molnar, a former state Senator, previously served on the commission from 2004 through 2012. The Laurel Republican takes the leadership title from Jim Brown, former PSC president sworn in this week as State Auditor.

The Public Service Commission regulates monopoly utilities, and at its meeting Tuesday, the five commissioners discussed bills that were coming up in the 2025 Montana Legislature, ones they had proposed and ones that came out of legislative work between sessions.

At the meeting, PSC external affairs coordinator Trevor Graff gave a staff report on the bills, including House Bill 55, to change the way public utilities plan and acquire energy resource and speed up parts of the process.

In part, Graff said, the “extensive” bill proposes a “quick turnaround” time of 120 days for energy planning processes, “significantly shorter” than the current nine months set in commission rules.

NorthWestern Energy currently has such an effort underway. It’s a matter of high public interest, and it entails a process under scrutiny by the public and advocacy groups.

The bill also would cut the minimum time for public comment from 60 days to 45 days.

As drafted, the Public Service Commission would be allowed to skip public comment on plans by utilities for their future energy portfolio. However, it asks utilities to potentially hold more meetings, four instead of two, but with the possibility to forego two if the PSC approves.

The bill came out of a select committee on energy resource planning, and its goal appeared to be to shift the public participation component of the process from the PSC to the utilities, Graff said.

He said the idea from the legislative committee seemed to be to take off some of the burden of collecting public comment from the PSC, although he said it’s probably good for the PSC to hear from citizens for its own records.

“You still, under this bill, have the prerogative to do that (hold a hearing on a resource plan), and you aren’t required to do that at all if you so choose,” Graff said.

The draft raised other questions for the PSC as well, he said, including a call for a couple more regulatory analysts at the commission, but with half of the estimated funding for it, and with money that’s not in the agency’s permanent budget.

HB-55 will be up for a hearing Friday in House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee.

In his staff report, Graff said bills in Senate Energy are getting pushed to next week given a slowdown in the Senate. A change in the rules shuffled the work and members in committees.

Graff also reminded commissioners that their policies state the PSC will generally present a unified front before the public, the media and the legislature. In other words, commissioners who are stepping out on their own should be clear that’s the case.

At the meeting, the commission’s first order of business was electing new officers, and Vice President Jennifer Fielder broke a tie to continue to serve as vice president; she said it was extra work, but she also represented continuity in the role.

In a leadership role, Fielder said it was important to pay attention to operations, and the agency in the past had been left in “disarray” because of neglect.

“A great deal of that was because agency leadership was engaged in policy advancement, and that was wonderful, but nobody was here paying attention to the agency itself,” Fielder said, noting the importance of ensuring quality staff.

The PSC is made up five Republicans, and Commissioners Annie Bukacek and Molnar supported Fielder for vice president. Commissioners Randy Pinocci and Jeff Welborn supported Pinocci for vice president.

Fielder, of Thompson Falls, Molnar, of Laurel, and Welborn, of Dillon and also previously a state legislator, took their oaths of office this week, Welborn for the first time.

Incoming Commissioner Welborn said he was excited to work on ensuring access to reliable and affordable utility services.

“Looking ahead to the next four years, I will prioritize strengthening our energy grid and producing more energy exports to lower rates for everyone,” Welborn said in a statement.

Molnar said he was humbled to have been selected with a unanimous vote, pleased Fielder would remain as vice president, and anticipated a smooth legislative session.

“With the governor’s budget restoring lost personnel, we expect to be able to better and more timely serve the families and employers that rely on us, as well as the utilities that serve us,” Molnar said in a statement from the PSC.

The PSC also is tracking House Bill 103, to change railroad track inspection.

It’s following a couple of telecommunications bills, House Bill 45, a “rehash” of a telecommunications revision bill from the 2023 session, and Senate Bill 51, to adjust telecoms registration requirements.