It's Been a Wild Ride at the MT Legislature
Three critical bills scheduled for Second Reading Tomorrow, April 28th
Let’s start with SB 535, the bane of my existence this session. The bill flew under the radar, as intended, until I accidently stumbled across it when I was watching a different bill during a Senate hearing. When the hair stands up at the back your neck when you watch a hearing, you get pretty motivated. The bill flew through the Senate Public Health committee 9-2. Through some quick lobbying, we were able to get seven more Senators to vote no on the Senate floor, mostly on the prolife issue, but a 39-9 vote is a blow-out by anyone’s standards. By that time, I had raised the alarm to some of the other medical freedom groups around the state and the troops arrived.
When the bill was heard in House Human Services, we had a good lineup of opposition and the bill passed 12 - 9. It became clear that this was not going to be a partisan issue, as 5 Dems opposed the bill. As we started preparing for the House floor debate, I began reaching out to those democrats who had opposed the bill, to form a loose alliance to help educate others to the dangers we saw in the bill. It was the first time that I felt a kinship with the same people that I had been in complete opposition with all session and, I must admit, it felt good. In past politics, it wasn’t uncommon to find some middle ground with the opposing party, but in general, those days are long gone, as the dems have marched further and further to left, leaving no common ground for shared values. I will always cherish the kinship I had with these folks as we worked together, no matter how brief it was.
The April 24th debate on the House floor was epic. I think my favorite speech was made by Rep Close (D). I recommend a listen. He just nails every point. My friend, Rep Millett (R), explained his “ten red flags” like only an engineer could and Rep Love (R) brought plain common sense to the debate of why we don’t want unmonitored experimental treatment centers in Montana. After that stimulating debate, the 2nd reading vote was 57/43, split evenly between the parties. To show just how much this isn’t a partisan issue, 57% of Republicans voted for it and 57% of Democrats also voted green. Weirdly enough, the Democrats were talking about medical freedom. As SJ Howell (D) commented, “If an adult wants to choose to blow their money on bio-hacking to extend their life, that is their choice.” Like I said, epic.
The third reading was the following day. For an emotional few minutes, the bill failed to concur in with a 50/50 vote. The tears were streaming. But wait! Never to be a dull moment around the Capitol, there was a rushed Action to Reconsider, followed by a 5 minute recess, another rushed 3rd reading vote, and voilà, three members who had previously voted no were not in the chamber for the vote, so the bill passed 49/48 in a dramatic fashion. Totally all on the Up and Up. Right.
Tomorrow, SB 535 returns to the Senate with the six added amendments. My newfound allies in the medical freedom world have been lobbing hard this weekend around the state, so we shall see. Never underestimate the power of Montana women fighting for the good of the state they love. And I say never underestimate God protecting the sacredness of His creation.
Call to Action— Call the legislative switchboard tomorrow morning and ask to have the entire Senate vote DO NOT CONCUR on SB 535. 406-444-4800
Turning our attention to our two other priority bills— On Friday April 25th, we had a Free Conference Committee on HB 682, our bill sponsored by Rep Kmetz (R), which helps minors harmed in gender transition, and it went shockingly well. There were two amendment introduced, one from Rep Howell (D) and one from S Fitzpatrick (R). Fitzpatrick’s was quite favorable to our wishes and it was passed by a unanimous vote out of the Conference Committee, and is on for 2nd reading in the House tomorrow. The whole event was so quick and easy, my partners from the Montana Family Foundation and I were almost speechless after the knock out, drag out fights we had in committee and on the House floor over this bill. Do the dems have a plan for the floor vote? I’m not sure. Keep the prayers coming! As the heartbreaking stories of the young detransitioners that I have gotten to know in person or follow on “X” become more frequent, it is so apparent that they have been robbed their physical health, mental health, reproductive health and their trust in healthcare. This bill needs to pass.
It’s companion bill, SB 218, sponsored by Fuller (R), is back from the Governor’s amendatory veto, which also returned this bill back to much more favorable terms for a person harmed by gender transition treatment.
ACTION ITEM: Call the legislator switchboard at 406-444-4800 and have the entire House AND Senate vote DO CONCUR on HB 682 AND SB 218. Vote is TOMORROW. Call early!
Only a few days left of this crazy session! You can do it…a few more calls!!
Thanks and God Bless the good people of our great Treasure State.
Where do the votes stand on these bills?