Disagreement continues over Montana Legislature Joint Rules Committee meetings

Democrats and Republicans are sparring over a meeting last week of the Legislature’s Joint Rules Committee.

The Montana Legislature’s Joint Rules Committee met Thursday to discuss rule changes including one that would allow legislators to attend meetings and vote virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democrats on the committee boycotted the meeting, saying it was held illegally, as the legislature is not in session and that it is an attempt to make it possible for the legislature to combat Gov. Steve Bullock’s directive allowing counties to use mail-in ballots for the upcoming general election.

The committee is scheduled to meet again Thursday at 11 a.m.

State Senate Majority Leader and Chair of the Senate Rules Committee Fred Thomas R-Stevensville, said the allegation that the motive is to combat Bullock’s directive is absurd.

“It has nothing to do with that, and it shows how narrow their thinking is,” he said.

He said the committee is not rushing the changes through and is taking its time. Consequently, he said, Montanans will have their ballots before any of the changes would be put into effect.

State Representative Greg Hertz, R-Polson, criticized Democrats for boycotting the meeting and said Bullock’s directive had nothing to do with the meeting, but he did say he believed Bullock’s directive to be illegal.

“If they have issues with changing the rules, they should participate in the meeting to discuss their concerns,” Hertz said in a press release he forwarded to The Havre Daily News.

Thomas said the first reason the meetings are being held is to make sure that votes and meetings can be held with audiences and even legislators attending virtually in some form or another.

He said the second reason for the meetings was to respond to actions taken by democratic members of the Legislative Audit Committee who he said blocked the renewal of a contract with the State Auditor and forced language into his contract to reduce his independence.

“This is outrageous, they ought to be ashamed and we are going to fix it,” he said.

Bullock said Friday during a visit to Havre that he didn’t know whether the meeting was in fact an effort to combat his directive, but if that is the case it indicates a lack of willingess to listen on the part of many members of the Legislature.

“If that was the design and why they’re doing it, that’s unfortunate,” he said, “because what they’re not doing is listening to their local county election administrators and county commissioners, the majority of whom are republicans.”

Bullock said his directive gave counties the power to make determinations in the same way that he did during the June primary, and that the Republican leaders in the Legislature commended that move back in June.

“We can’t make COVID-19 politicized, this should be about public and economic health not about politics,” Bullock said.

He said he didn’t follow the situation in its entirety but said it’s very atypical as the Joint Rules Committee generally only meets when the legislature is in session which is what state law provides for.

Bullock’s Legal Counsel Raph Graybill, who is running for attorney general and faces Roosevelt County Attorney Austin Knudsen in the general election, said Friday that the governor’s office is waiting to see what happens.

“They didn’t take any action (during their Sept. 17 meeting), so we’ll see what comes next and kind of make a decision based on their action,” he said.

Rep. Jacob Bachmeier D-Havre, said the meeting wasn’t just atypical but illegal, and that is the reason Democrats didn’t show up.

“The meeting Republicans held last Thursday, and the one they are attempting to hold this week, are not legitimate meetings of the Joint Rules Committee,” Bachmeier said. “Republican leaders are attempting to force a rule change through an illegitimate, backdoor process that would change the nature of our state’s legislative process by allowing the Legislature to pass joint resolutions outside of the legislative session.”

He said this change would allow them to combat the governor’s directive even if that isn’t the stated goal of the changes.

Graybill said statute makes it impossible for the committee to meet legally between sessions.

“The statute is pretty clear, that the rules committee meets after the election,” he said, “ …  it says it limits pre-session activities, it meets after the election with any caucus, after the caucus, then the rules committee can meet only for organizational purposes.”

Graybill said the changes being proposed are significant and would have to be made during a session.

“Is there a way to do that that’s simpler?” he asked. “Yeah. It’s called having a special session.”

Thomas said the rules committee is not bound by statute.

“We wouldn’t do this if it weren’t legal,” he said. “We go by our rules, not by statute.”

Hertz said in his press release that the state’s constitution gives the committee the authority to meet regardless of whether the Legislature is in session and cited Article V Section 10 which he said gives the legislature authority to establish the rules for its proceedings.

Democrats in the legislature have threatened legal action if any of the proposed changes go through, but Hertz said the courts have no authority in this matter.

“The courts have no jurisdiction over the internal operations of the Montana Legislature as per the Montana Constitution and reinforced by the Montana Supreme Court,” he said. “The final arbitrator of legislative rules is the majority of elected legislators who will determine if rule changes are needed.”

Bachmeier said the issue would be decided in court. He and many other Democrats have said they will continue to fight the result of these meetings.

“Legislative Democrats will continue to stand up for the integrity of both our legislative process and the November election,” he said.

Montana Senate Minority Leader Casey Schreiner D-Great Falls., Montana House Rules Committee Chair Derek Skees R-Kalispell., Rep. Joshua Kassmier R-Fort Benton., Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy D-Box Elder., Rep Casey Knudsen R-Malta., Sen. Mike Lang R-Malta., Sen. Frank Smith D-Poplar., and Sen. Russel Tempel R-Chester. had not responded to a request for comment by print deadline this morning.