Legislator, 18, starts work in Helena

This time last year, Jacob Bachmeier was a senior who walked the halls of Havre High.

Now, 18, he walks the halls of the state capitol building in Helena as a freshman Montana lawmaker.

Bachmeier, a Democrat, took the oath of office Monday, standing alongside 99 other members of the Montana House of Representatives. It was a moment he later said felt surreal as he made the leap from successful candidate to office holder.

“I felt tickled almost that I was finally here, that it was my first day and now the real work begins,” he said Wednesday.

Bachmeier said that as he and other house members stood together being sworn in at the start of the 65th Montana state legislative session he felt a sense of togetherness with his new colleagues.

“When we were all sworn in at the same time, it felt like a sense of unity,” he said. “Certainly there are going to be disagreements, but it was refreshing to know that we were all there for the same reason.”

Bachmeier’s family, including his grandmother and great-grandmother, traveled down to Helena with him. He said Monday was an emotional day for his family, whose support he said contributed greatly to his victory in November against freshman state Rep. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre.

It was a day Bachmeier, a self described hard-core political nerd, said he had been dreaming of since he was 6 years old. As a child, he said, his great-grandmother Jeannine Manuel used to regale him with stories about his great-grandfather Rex Manuel’s time as House speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives.

He said his grandmother Vickie Jacobson, Manuel’s daughter, told him that she had tears in her eyes when he was being sworn in.  

The 90-day legislative session is only a few days old, Bachmeier said, but he is starting to settle into a routine amid the fast-paced atmosphere, one he compares to horses bolting from the gates at a race track.

Bachmeier said his day now begins at about 5 a.m and he doesn’t arrive home until 7 p.m.

“And everything between 5 and 7, it’s just go, go, go,” he said.

Bachmeier said that each day he makes the short trek from his apartment a few blocks south of the state Capitol Building, arriving at about 7 a.m. when he meets with other members of the House Democratic Caucus.

There they discuss issues and unify on certain issues, he said. An hour later, members each go off to their committee meetings. Bachmeier said that each morning he attends a meeting of the State Administrative Committee, which consumes most of the rest of his morning. There he, along with Republican colleagues and other Democrats, discuss issues and pending legislation.

At noon, they break for lunch. He said Democrats gather in the bullpen, a large area with conference tables where they eat, as well as craft comments, speeches and do other work.

Members of both parties then come to the House floor at about 1 p.m. for a floor session, where individual lawmakers speak, proposed legislation is crafted and votes are cast.

After the floor session, members then go to another one of their committee meetings. Bachmeier said that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon he attends a meeting of the House Education Committee on which he sits, while every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon he meets with the House Agriculture Committee.

Those committee meetings will typically run until about 5 p.m, Bachmeier said, but House members are usually in the Capital for another hour or two to prepare statements, speeches and do other work before heading home.

House members as of now do not work Saturdays, but likely will once the workload  increases, Bachmeier said.

Despite being a member of a Legislature where the average member is 57 years oid, according to a 2015 study by the National Council of State Legislatures, Bachmeier said he does not feel like an outcast.

He said that since he began his campaign for the House District 28 seat he now holds, which generally consists of the city of Havre, he has received a great deal of notoriety. That attention, the fact he unseated an incumbent, has earned him the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, he said.

Since the Legislature started, Bachmeier said, he has also befriended many Republicans especially moderates.

“As we’ve gotten together and talked about our shared goals, I think they respect my vision for Montana,” Bachmeier said.