Tag: montana

Montana Governor Signs Bill Directing Marijuana Tax Revenue Toward Environmental Conservation And Wildlife

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) announced on Friday that he had recently signed House Bill 932, a proposal that would expand uses for the conservation-dedicated tax revenues the state collects on recreational marijuana sales.

Under HB 932, the scope of wildlife habitat protection and improvement supported with marijuana taxes will broaden to include projects implemented on private land. The law is slated to take effect July 1.

Before the latest legislative reform, Habitat Montana was the sole beneficiary of the roughly $10 million of habitat-conservation-dedicated funding that marijuana revenues support. In recent years, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) has used Habitat Montana to purchase new Wildlife Management Areas and secure both perpetual conservation easements and 40-year conservation leases.

With HB 932 in play this summer, that $10 million of conservation funding will all go into a new account: the “habitat legacy account.”

From there, it will be further divided into three separate funding buckets.

Most of the money, 75 percent, will support Habitat Montana and state water projects. Roughly 20 percent of the remainder will be funneled into an existing program called the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program, or WHIP, and 5 percent will be directed toward the newly established wildlife crossings account that seeks to reduce the wildlife-vehicle collisions that plague the state’s highways and interstates.

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Montana Joins Alabama, Florida, Nebraska Banning Sales of Fake Meat Products

A growing number of states are expressing no appetite for so-called “lab-grown meat,” with Montana now being the latest to ban the sale of food containing the product.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte posted on X this week that by signing a state bill banning “cell-cultured edible product,” he was “proud to defend our way of life and hardworking Montana ranchers who produce the best beef in the world.”

Montana joins Alabama and Florida in banning lab grown meat, with Indiana’s governor also signing a measure this month that places a two-year moratorium on the sale of cultivated meat products in that state.

Nebraska lawmakers also passed a bill banning the distribution and sale of lab-grown meat Wednesday. It reportedly was drafted at the request of Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, who is likely to sign it.

Tennessee and Arizona also considered such legislation last year but failed to pass their measures.

The new Montana law defines “cell-cultured edible product” as “the concept of meat.” It could include elements such as “muscle cells, fat cells, connective tissue, blood, and other components produced via cell culture, rather than from a whole slaughtered animal.”

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New Montana Law Blocks the State From Buying Private Data To Skirt the Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not long—only 54 words, in total. But its core premise can be summed up with a simple phrase: Come back with a warrant.

The Fourth Amendment protects people “against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Any law enforcement operative hoping to search or seize your “persons, houses, papers, [or] effects” must get a warrant, showing “probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

But in recent years, as Americans began storing larger portions of their personal information online, governments started buying this data, circumventing the Fourth Amendment’s guarantees of protection. This week, Montana became the first state to restrict the practice.

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in Carpenter v. United States that the government cannot search a suspect’s cell phone without a warrant.

“A person does not surrender all Fourth Amendment protection by venturing into the public sphere,” including by storing personal information on their phone, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. “Although such records are generated for commercial purposes,” that does not “negate” one’s “anticipation of privacy.”

But in the years since, governments have gotten around that pesky constitutional prohibition by simply buying people’s data, with the public’s money.

Companies have access to reams of information about their users, and they often sell that data—anonymized—to firms called data brokers, who then bundle it and sell it to other companies, like advertisers. “A large portion of data brokerage is used for identity verification or fraud prevention,” Paul Boutin wrote in Newsweek. “Much of it is used for traditional marketing.”

But governments got in on the action, too. Federal agencies like the IRS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent millions of dollars buying access to data that would otherwise require a warrant. In 2022, the Associated Press reported that police departments across the country had purchased and used “an obscure cellphone tracking tool, at times without search warrants, that gives them the power to follow people’s movements months back in time.”

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Montana Lawmakers Pass Bill Allowing Cannabis Compacts Between Indian Tribes And The Governor

Though House Bill 952 is only two pages long, it has the potential to have major impacts on Montana tribes, according to those who advocated for its passage.

Sponsored by Rep. Frank Smith, D-Poplar, Sioux, the bill was requested by the State-Tribal Relations Interim Committee to help tribes navigate barriers in entering and engaging in the cannabis industry. It cleared the Legislature earlier this month, getting support from most Democratic legislators and enough majority Republicans to pass.

This is Smith’s last year as a legislator before retirement. He was first elected in 1999 and is one of the longest-serving current members. During a recent Montana American Indian Caucus meeting, Smith was wished a happy retirement and congratulated for ending with what members called such an impactful bill.

Many of the challenges tribes face in growing and selling marijuana stem from past legislation. House Bill 701, a 153-page bill that became law in 2021, established laws to regulate newly legalized recreational cannabis. The bill placed major constrictions on tribes in regards to cannabis regulations.

HB 701 created three major hurdles for tribes when it was enacted.

First, it only allowed for one combined-use marijuana licence per tribe, meaning each tribe could only have one location for growing, packaging, distributing and selling cannabis.

Second, it restricted tribes to a single-tier canopy licence, meaning a tribe’s dispensary and the growing operation must consist in a maximum of a single 1,000-square-foot building.

Third, it required tribes to build dispensaries at least 150 miles outside of reservation boundaries and in a “green county” that allows the sale of cannabis, essentially restricting tribes to operate in highly saturated markets, an issue raised by Patrick Yawakie, co-founder of Red Medicine, LLC, an organization that provides professional civic engagement and lobbying services to tribes.

Yawakie said this year’s HB 952 will address many of those barriers. He helped draft the bill and said its language was mainly pulled from the Washington state-tribal cannabis compact, which allows Washington tribes and the state enter into agreements to regulate and define cannabis operations within their reservations. Twenty-two out of the 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington have compacts with the state and more are in the process.

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Curious Cattle Mutilation Reported in Montana

Montana authorities are investigating a curious cattle mutilation undoubtedly committed by a sinister miscreant yet eerily similar to the classic phenomenon that has mystified investigators for decades. The confounding case reportedly came to light last week via a bulletin from the Chouteau County Sheriff’s Office. The unfortunate cow in question was said to have been slain under unusual circumstances at a ranch near the town of Big Sandy. Specifically, in a manner akin to the classic cattle mutilation phenomenon, the animal’s tongue had been inexplicably removed and its jaw skinned.

However, in an odd detail contrasting the myriad of mysteriously mutilated cattle cases that have come before, in this instance, it was clear that the perpetrator was a person as the cow had also been shot with a gun. Alas, the announcement from the sheriff’s office was short on additional details as they explained, “in order not to compromise the investigation, specifics will not be released.” That said, they did not that there have been two, presumably recent, additional cases “similar to this” that occurred outside the county.

While how the cow was killed almost certainly precludes the possibility that aliens were responsible for the incident, who the humans were and why they committed the dastardly deed remains uncertain. Given the similarities to the cattle mutilation modus operandi, which itself is an enigma, one is left to wonder if the strange slaying in Chouteau County had the same inscrutable intentions behind it. Hoping for some answers to the multiple mysteries surrounding the case, the Sheriff’s Office understandably asked for the public to contact them with any tips on the downed cow.

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Montana Lawmakers Pass Marijuana Bill To Set Zero-Tolerance THC Limit For Drivers Under 21

Advocates are warning that a bill passed by Montana’s legislature aimed at reducing marijuana-impaired driving by people under 21 would put younger medical cannabis patients at risk and criminalize minors who may have used the drug days earlier but are otherwise entirely sober.

The state House of Representatives voted on Friday to pass the measure—SB 508, from Sen. Willis Curdy (D)—which the Senate approved in early March. It next proceeds to the desk of Gov. Greg Gianforte (R).

Reform advocates are asking their supporters to urge a veto from the governor, noting that the proposal includes mandatory jail time for offenders and claiming that young drivers could be tested and charged after an accident that wasn’t their fault even if they weren’t impaired.

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said in an email about the bill that it would create an “extreme standard for drivers under 21, making it a DUI offense to have any detectable THC or certain metabolites in their system.”

“It would criminalize sober young drivers who are state-legal medical cannabis patients, people who tested positive after using legal CBD products, and people who were exposed to cannabis second-hand,” the group said. “Since THC can remain in the bloodstream and urine days after its effects have worn off, this approach would criminalize and incarcerate young Montanans who are completely unimpaired.”

Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for MPP, said the House passed the bill after lawmakers made misleading statements about marijuana legality among people younger than 21 as well as circumstances under which minors would be tested.

In floor debate, Rep. Steven Kelly (R) said that marijuana use is already illegal for people under 21 and that minors would need to exhibit signs of impairment—such as bloodshot eyes or inhibited speech—in order to be tested.

But MPP points out that Illinois’s medical marijuana program allows patient use by people 21 and under with a doctor’s recommendation, and minors can also legally use hemp-based CBD products that in some cases can cause positive THC tests, especially when screening for trace amounts.

The group also noted that nothing in the bill appears to actually require evidence of impairment, meaning drivers could be tested even if there’s no sign they’re actually under the influence of the drug.

“There is no need for this unjust, overbroad law,” MPP said in its email, adding that “Montana already criminalizes impaired driving,” including with a per se THC blood limit of 5 nanograms per milliliter.”

MPP also put out a call to action asking supporters to urge Gianforte to veto SB 508.

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Montana GOP Purges 9 Turncoat Republican Senators for Backing Democrats, Says They Are No Longer Recognized as Republicans

The Montana Republican Party has formally censured nine Republican state senators for betraying the will of GOP voters and aligning themselves with Democrats during the 69th Legislative Session.

The state party’s Executive Committee has made it clear: these lawmakers are no longer recognized as Republicans.

The nine rogue senators—Jason Ellsworth, Wendy McKamey, Gayle Lammers, Josh Kassmier, Butch Gillespie, Gregg Hunter, Denley Loge, Russ Tempel, and Shelley Vance—have repeatedly sold out conservative priorities, voting with Democrats on key issues, disrupting committee assignments, and opposing vital amendments to Senate rules that would have preserved Republican leadership and integrity.

More from the press release:

The Executive Committee of the Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) has censured the nine Montana Senators as Republicans following their repeated alignment with Senate Democrats during the 69th Legislative Session. These Senators have undermined the Republican majority leadership and disregarded the will of Montana Republican voters.

The nine Senators in question-Jason Ellsworth, Wendy McKamey, Gayle Lammers, Josh Kassmier, Butch Gillespie, Gregg Hunter, Denley Loge, Russ Tempel, and Shelley Vance-have consistently voted with Democrats, betraying the core values of the Republican Party.

Despite multiple calls for unity and adherence to Republican principles, the Senators have chosen to align with Democrats, undermining Republican priorities and leadership. Their actions include voting to disrupt committee assignments, opposing critical amendment to Senate Rules, and failing to support the expulsion of Senator Ellsworth after an ethics investigation.

The MTGOP Executive Committee has determined that these Senators no longer represent the values or interests of Montana Republicans.

As a result, the MTGOP will no longer support or fund their campaigns. The Party is also urging the media and the public to refrain from referring to these Senators as Republicans.

The MTGOP is committed to ensuring that its elected officials uphold the trust of their constituents and the Party’s principles, and will continue to advocate for a united Republican voice in Montana.

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Montana Senate Approves Bill To Shift Marijuana Revenue From Conservation Programs To Police And Addiction Treatment

The Montana Senate on Thursday advanced a measure to change what programs receive more than $60 million in funding from recreational marijuana tax revenue.

Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, is carrying Senate Bill 307 to shift marijuana tax revenue away from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks programs, and bolster marijuana prevention and enforcement operations.

McGillvray framed the bill as a “simple” policy choice, and asked legislators whether they care more about children and those impacted by marijuana, or wildlife habitat.

“I would submit to you that the deer, the elk, the ducks, the geese are all doing pretty good in Montana,” McGillvray said, adding that FWP has “buckets” of money they could spend.

“I’m asking [us] to prioritize the babies, the moms, the teenagers, the children, the adults that are addicted to this and need a way out,” he said.

But opponents said that the funding was allocated for FWP programs for a reason, and that if the Legislature wants to address prevention efforts, they should tackle that separately.

Sen. Sara Novak, D-Anaconda, served on the Business and Labor Committee during the 2021 session, when recreational marijuana was legalized with support from conservation groups counting on some of the revenue.

“We worked very hard on a big piece of legislation that put all the guiderails around the legalization of marijuana, and it included the allocation of revenue sources,” Novak said. “I do wholeheartedly think we need to take a hard look at prevention, education, treatment, the crime that goes along with all of that and the whole trickle effect, I just don’t think that this bill is the way to go about doing that.”

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Senate Passes Bill To Protect Women’s Sports In Montana

The Senate passed legislation today to protect women’s sports programs in Montana from intrusion by biological men, sending the bill to the Governor’s desk.

House Bill 300 prohibits biological men from participating in women’s sports programs, protecting the safety and competitiveness of female athletes. The bill also requires educational institutions to provide sex-segregated facilities – such as restrooms, locker rooms, and sleeping quarters – based on biological sex.

HB 300 is carried in the upper chamber by Senator Sue Vinton, R-Billings.

“Montana’s female athletes deserve a level playing field, where they can participate in the activities they love without fear of having their safety or competitiveness compromised by a man ,” Vinton said. “HB 300 keeps the focus of women’s sports on women, not radical gender ideology.”

The bill already passed the House of Representatives, where it was sponsored by Representative Kerri Seekins-Crowe, R-Billings. Not a single House Democrat voted in favor of the legislation.

“This bill ensures that women’s sports remain a space where dedication and talent – not unfair physical advantages – determine success. We must protect the opportunities, safety, and dignity of all our students, especially young women,” Seekins-Crowe said.

The passage of HB 300 aligns Montana with the Trump administration’s federal effort to protect women’s sports in our schools and universities. In January, the US Department of Education announced that it would return to enforcing Title IX protections on the basis of biological sex.

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Wolves, Hyenas and Legislators Run in Packs

At an early age, we taught our kids to learn from others and to think for themselves. I still remember telling one child, “Truth doesn’t fly in flocks. You need to seek and find it on your own. And never be afraid to test and re-examine what you believe is true. Belief has no value if you close your mind to the ideas and arguments of others. Living in truth involves not only faith, but also the courage to think for yourself.”

Unthinking animals either herd up for security, or run in packs to pull other creatures down. Politicians do both. In the worst example I have seen in 48 years in Montana, the cowardly pack mentality has been on full display in the sixty-nineth session of the Montana State Legislature.

Most of us are aware by now of the hostile takeover of the Montana State Senate by a coalition of every Democrat plus a wolf pack of liberal Republicans, who locked claws on vote after vote to deliver a functional majority for the Democratic Party. At one point, twenty separate pro-Democrat floor votes were recorded, all by 27-23 margins – an impressive show of Pack Power over their own Republican leadership. The nine GOP deserters are senators Vance, Gillespie, Kassmier, Lammers, Loge, McKamey, Tempel, Hunter and Ellsworth.

First, the Pack held the Senate hostage for many days, eventually forcing leadership to change its own rules so that liberal Republicans could be inserted onto key committees to shift committee control.

Then came the Jason Ellsworth affair. Sen. Ellsworth was caught arranging a sweetheart contract for a buddy of his by quietly diverting, at the last moment, over $170,000 from the unspent budget of the Judicial Reform Interim Committee, over the objections of its members. The project made no sense and would be performed from the friend’s home. When discovered, auditors were shocked, and the Senate Ethics Committee began an investigation, as was its constitutional duty. But the nine-member GOP wolf pack again locked arms with the Democrats and stopped the investigation in its tracks – thus assuring that the liberal Ellsworth would remain in the Senate for the entire session, doing the Democrats’ bidding.

Other reports of Ellsworth throwing his political weight around started coming out. Clearly, he should have resigned, but the “the Pack” continued to give him protective cover, and he remains there still – larger than life – seemingly incapable of shame or contrition.

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