Montana

New rules lead to 'a little bit of chaos' in Montana Senate • Daily Montanan

Published

1 year ago

January 8, 2025

New rules lead to 'a little bit of chaos' in Montana Senate • Daily Montanan

A change in Senate rules on the first day of the Montana Legislature led to “messed up” planning and stalled some bills.

A print-out of committee hearings for the second day of the session was mostly blank.

Tuesday was just the second day of the 69th session, however, and, according to at least a couple of senators, some politics are expected along the way, and slight delays aren’t all bad, at least this early in the game.

In a briefing earlier in the day, Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, said the bid for new rules that led to the slowdown had surprised him, and it had serious consequences.

“It was a reshuffling of the deck, which, to me, was very … dismissive of the caucus and everything we did in November and the two months prior,” Regier said.

The previous day, a band of Republicans teamed up with Democrats to change the rules in the Senate, and on Tuesday, some, but not all, committee chairs stood up on the floor and said they had yet to get off the ground.

“Senate Judiciary is still going on a field trip,” said Sen. Barry Usher, R-Billings.

“Stay tuned,” said Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, about Senate Tax.

The sloshing in the Senate caught the attention of the House.

In House Appropriations, Chairperson Llew Jones, R-Conrad, shared ground rules about how the largest committee worked and how it fit into the work at the Capitol, with a side note about the status in the Senate.

“Senate is in a little bit of chaos about who’s on where,” Jones said.

During the first Senate floor session one day earlier, Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, proposed doing away with an executive review committee in the way Republican leaders had set it up.

At the time, Flowers said its purpose was unclear, and Democrats from the minority caucus were needed on other committees.

Sen. Jason Ellsworth, a Hamilton Republican and former Senate president, also advocated for a structure that did more to spread out the expertise of lawmakers, and he and eight other Republicans voted with Democrats.

Regier said the change meant in just 15 minutes, a couple months’ worth of logistics unraveled, everything from committee assignments to letterhead and business cards.

On the floor, he said the legislative website still had incorrect hearing meeting times, and proper ones would be printed and posted in a public space outside chambers when available.

“We’re working our tails off to get that all in sync,” Regier said.

The delays weren’t all bad, though.

The Senate wrapped up quickly Tuesday, and afterwards, Sen. Janet Ellis, D-Helena, said it was early enough in the legislative session, she wouldn’t characterize the changes with committees as disruptive.

Ellis also said she was working on a bill that dipped into some unfamiliar territory — about artificial intelligence in elections — so she saw a silver lining.

“I’m glad I have some time to prepare,” Ellis said.

Not all committees were delayed as a result, and some were having “educational” meetings instead of taking up proposed bills.

Earlier in the day, Regier said the new rules were just temporary, and the Senate might revert to the plan from leadership when it adopted permanent rules. He said he would defend the work his caucus did, but he couldn’t predict an outcome, either.

“This is politics, right?” Regier said.

Coming out of the floor session, Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, said the same thing about the brake tap on committees.

“That’s why we’re here. Politics,” Windy Boy said. “Sometimes, some people don’t get what they want. Some do. It’s like two kids playing in the playground. Some get to play with the toys, and some don’t.”

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Montana

Missoula and Western Montana neighbors: Obituaries for March 11

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7 hours ago

March 11, 2026

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Missoula and Western Montana neighbors: Obituaries for March 11

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Montana AG letter alleges Helena violates law banning ‘sanctuary cities’

Published

19 hours ago

March 10, 2026

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Montana AG letter alleges Helena violates law banning ‘sanctuary cities’

HELENA — On Monday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent a letter to the City of Helena claiming the municipality is not in compliance with the state’s law banning “sanctuary cities.” The letter comes just under a month after the State of Montana launched an investigation into a city resolution on Helena Police policy and Helena’s involvement in federal immigration enforcement.

In the letter, Knudsen laid out the ways he believes the city’s resolution violated state law. The attorney general gave Helena 15 days to respond or reverse the policy. If the city does not comply, his office will pursue legal action.

“Helena’s resolution appears to contain blatant violations of this law,” wrote Knudsen.

MTN News

On January 26, 2026, the City of Helena adopted a resolution clarifying when and how the Helena Police Department will cooperate with federal immigration officials. The vote was 4 to 1. The Helena commission seats and the mayor are elected in non-partisan races.

In the letter, Knudsen alleges the resolution established “a broad sanctuary city policy” that seeks to protect every illegal immigrant, regardless of whether the individual had committed a serious crime or not. The state further claims the resolution gives illegal immigrants “special privileges” in plea deals and establishes a “free-for-all policy” where a police officer can request the unmasking of Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers.

Knudsen has requested that the City of Helena, in their response, specifically describe in detail how the resolution complies with Montana law, provide emails and correspondence from city staff and the commission regarding the resolution.

Helena City manager Alana Lake told MTN in a statement: “The City of Helena is aware of the issues being raised by the Attorney General’s Office and is reviewing the matter. While we cannot discuss the details of a potential legal issue, the City is committed to transparency and compliance with the law. The City takes these matters seriously and will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities while remaining focused on serving our community.”

Passed in 2021, Montana House Bill 200 prohibits a state agency or local government from implementing any policy that prevents employees or departments from communicating with federal agencies regarding immigration or citizenship status for lawful purposes. It also states governments must comply with immigration detainer requests if they are lawfully made.

HB 200 was backed by Republicans and passed with only Republican votes. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the legislation into law on March 31, 2021.

Passage of the resolution by the Helena City Commission has drawn ire from conservative voices in Montana politics and on the national level.

The resolution said the commission supported the Helena Police Department avoiding “committing its resources to federal action for which it has no authority,” such as entering into an agreement with the federal government to directly enforce immigration laws. Under federal law, immigration enforcement is conducted by federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. However, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, state and local governments can voluntarily enter into 287 (g) agreements with the federal government that allow them to enforce immigration laws.

The commission further supported HPD’s policy not to stop, detain, or arrest a person solely on suspected violations of immigration law, including assisting other agencies in an arrest based solely on immigration law.

DEEPER LOOK: Helena has seen a growing debate over ICE and local police involvement

In the resolution, the commission also supported an HPD officer, using their own discretion, requesting the identification and unmasking of a Department of Homeland Security Officer if the HPD officer “feels it will not be interfering with the actions of federal officers exercising their jurisdiction.”

“This adversarial relationship by local law enforcement toward federal officers itself undermines public safety and forces immigration officers to fear for their safety when they are simply carrying out their lawful duties,” wrote Knudsen.

The resolution further supports the City of Helena’s policy not to consider immigration consequences in a plea agreement with a defendant.

The commission also supports the City of Helena not disclosing any sensitive information about any person – including immigration status, sexual orientation, or social security number – except as required by law.

“This is a restriction that directly conflicts with Montana’s prohibition on sanctuary jurisdictions, specifically ‘sending to, receiving from, exchanging with, or maintaining for a federal, state, or local government entity information regarding a person’s citizenship or immigration status for a lawful purpose,’” the attorney general wrote.

If a government is found to be violating Montana’s law banning “sanctuary cities”, the state could fine them $10,000 every five days, prevent them from receiving new grants from the state, and have their projects with the state re-prioritized. A government in violation can avoid penalties by becoming compliant with the law within 14 days of being notified of the violation.

Read the full letter from the Montana Attorney General to the City of Helena:

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Dispatches from the Wild: Montana’s wild inheritance at risk | Explore Big Sky

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

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Dispatches from the Wild: Montana’s wild inheritance at risk | Explore Big Sky

Steve Pearce and the future of the BLM

By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS COLUMNIST

If you care about hunting elk in crisp October air, floating a clear-running river for cutthroat trout, or simply taking your kids camping beneath a sky unspoiled by drill rigs, you should be outraged that Steve Pearce was ever considered to run the Bureau of Land Management.

The BLM is the largest landlord in the West. It oversees nearly 245 million acres of public land—millions of those acres in and around Montana’s most cherished places. This land is the backbone of our elk and mule deer herds, our sage grouse leks, our pronghorn migration routes and our blue-ribbon trout streams. It’s also the stage on which Montana’s hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation economy plays out.

Putting someone with Steve Pearce’s environmental record in charge of that land is like handing your cabin keys to the arsonist who’s always hated it. In the four months since Pearce was first nominated, it emerged that, if confirmed, he and his wife would divest from more than 1,000 oil and gas leases in Oklahoma to address potential conflicts of interest. While some senators strongly support his “active forest management” approach, he still faces opposition from groups alarmed by his record on public land transfers. On March 4, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 11-9 to advance his nomination, despite concerns from conservation groups.

Pearce’s track record is no mystery. He has consistently sided with extractive industries at the expense of wildlife, habitat and public access. He has supported opening more public lands to oil and gas drilling, weakening bedrock environmental safeguards and undermining science-based management. His votes and public statements have signaled again and again that he sees wild country as an obstacle to be overcome, not a legacy to be stewarded.

For Montana, that posture is an existential threat. Our big-game herds rely on intact winter range and unfragmented migration corridors across BLM lands. Aggressive drilling, poorly planned roads and relaxed reclamation standards shred those habitats. Once you carve up a landscape with pads, pipelines and traffic, you don’t get solitude—or mature bull elk—back with the stroke of a pen.

Anglers should be just as alarmed. Headwater streams and riparian corridors on BLM ground are the life support system for native bull trout, cutthroat and wild trout. A BLM director hostile to environmental safeguards is far more likely to greenlight development that increases sediment, degrades water quality and depletes the cold, clean flows our rivers depend on.

If Pearce takes office, outdoor recreation—and the rural economies built around it—will not be spared. In Montana, hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation pump billions of dollars into local businesses, guiding operations, gear shops and main-street cafes. People travel here precisely because of the open space, healthy herds and functioning ecosystems that BLM lands help sustain. When those landscapes are sacrificed to short-term profit, we don’t just lose scenery; we lose jobs, identity and a way of life.

This is not a partisan issue, especially in Montana. Public lands are one of the few things we truly share: ranchers who graze allotments, tribal communities with cultural ties to these places, hunters and anglers who’ve long defended habitat, and families who just want a place to pitch a tent. A BLM director should be a careful, science-driven steward accountable to all Americans—not a politician with a history of dismissing environmental protections as red tape.

Montanans know what’s at stake. We’ve fought bad ideas before—land transfers, giveaway leases, rollbacks to bedrock conservation laws—and we’ve won when we stood together. Steve Pearce’s nomination should have been dead on arrival. The fact that he was even on the list tells us how vigilant we must remain.

Our outrage must translate into action: calling elected officials, packing public hearings, writing letters and voting as if our public lands are on the line. Truly, they are. The BLM needs a director who sees these landscapes the way Montanans do: as sacred ground, not a balance sheet.

Anything less is a betrayal of the wild inheritance we’re supposed to pass on.

Benjamin Alva Polley is a place-based storyteller. His words have been published in Rolling Stone, Esquire, Field & Stream, The Guardian, Men’s Journal, Outside, Popular Science, Sierra, and WWF, among other notable outlets, and are available on his website.