Hill, Tempel speak at transmittal break gathering

Saturday, state Rep. Ed Hill R-Havre., and state Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester., held a town hall in the former Dodge dealership location at 1720 U.S. Highway 2 East where they heard the concerns of constituents, answered questions and spoke about their experience this session.

Tempel said this session has been uncommonly complicated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has made keeping up with the myriad bills nearly impossible.

Hill said, as a freshman legislator, this was a very new experience for him even during training.

"They asked me, 'What kind of bills are you going to introduce?' I said, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' and I didn't," he said. "So they asked me, 'What are you passionate about?'"

None of the local Democrats were invited to the session, and none of the other local Republican legislators attended.

See a letter to the editor about the transmittal package from state Rep. Jonathon Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, on Page A4 of today's edition.

He said he's only introduced one bill this session, and criticized the Havre Daily News's coverage of said bill.

"You probably saw it in the paper that Ed Hill is going to kill all the kids in the school system by changing the definition of immunization," he said.

The bill itself would have changed the definition of immunization in school vaccination policy to include immunotherapy and homeoprophylaxis.

Havre Daily News reported that certified homeopath Jenna Dodge was the only person to testify in favor of the bill, and that it was opposed in a hearing by a slew of medical professionals and organizations including the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, the Montana Nurses Association and many others.

During the town hall, in response to an attendee saying DPHHS should be reigned in and have its authority further limited, Hill expressed a belief that dependence on government programs was not only harmful to people in the long-term, but part of a larger plot.

"It's really easy to get people dependent on the system, and I think there is a diabolical plan behind that," he said.

He said DPHHS as an agency has gotten out of hand and culture is increasingly encouraging people to ask for government handouts.

"Some of this stuff, you know, why do you need this?" he asked. "... I'm not insinuating that I want to cut off everyone's housing, medicine and food, but we have to figure out a way to trim this back."

Hill also expressed his dissatisfaction with Gov. Greg Gianforte's efforts to re-open the state's economy, which he said hasn't been aggressive enough.

"I can't say I'm totally happy with the governor and the way he's going," he said. "I wish things could be a little more open to the public for businesses."

He said he supports a bill that would criminalize discrimination against people who don't get the COVID-19 vaccine.

He said he's happy that the Legislature has passed a great deal of pro-life and pro-gun bills.

Another attendee said they are not getting bills passed for normal people.

Among the many issues he talked about, the audience member said the state needs to crack down on low-income housing fraud and people who violate the rules of their housing for the sake of landlords, who, Tempel said have been hurt by the eviction/rent collection moratoriums during the pandemic.

Temple said bills addressing issues like that are making their way through the legislature.

Energy policy was also a big topic of discussion at the event with many attendees advocating for less focus on renewable energy like wind and solar power, which they blamed for the severe power outages in Texas this past month.

Politifact ruled that claim false in an entry Feb. 19, saying officials with the Texas power grid said the loss of power was attributable to all power sources as well as the grid infrastructure being poorly designed to handle the freezing conditions.

Attendees also aired their grievances regarding the cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline by the Biden Administration.

Tempel said taxpayers will need to make up for the lost revenue the cancellation would cause.

"Biden basically shot Montana in the foot," he said.

Attendees also brought up local infrastructure and the poor state of the roads in Havre.

"I'd rather drive down a dirt road in Chester than try to drive in Havre," one said.

Hill agreed and said those matters will need to be addressed.

Right-to-repair was another subject discussed at some length at the event especially in the wake of a bill addressing the issue not making it past the transmittal break.

Attendees expressed support for the idea, but Tempel said the bill itself was problematic for the affected businesses.

He said the right-to-repair bill was poorly worded and would have required dealers to sell parts at cost, which was unreasonable.

Another attendee said Hill and Tempel should support a bill that would make enforcement of any federal law restricting guns and make Montana a sanctuary for gun rights.

Tempel said he's a strong advocate for the Second Amendment, but some legislation going through the legislature is just too far, especially when it legalizes concealed carry in government buildings.

"I've concealed carry for over 30 years, I do not feel comfortable in that position to take that gun on the floor," he said. "I know some people that I would not want in that building concealed carrying."

Another attendee asked Hill and Tempel about the passage of the Inter-State Meat Compact through the house.

She said the bill is in large part good, but part of it appears to say that the federal government will no longer provide funding for state-level inspection programs which will eat into the business's profits and time because she needs to become a federally inspected plant.

"I can go federal, but I don't want to," she said.

She also said custom plants could be decimated by this change as well.

Hill said he barely remembers the bill but the attendee told him it passed only a few days ago 95 to 4, and she's confused as to why people are voting for it.

Hill said he can't keep up with every aspect of every bill and he voted for it based on the opinions of the people in the Legislature more knowledgeable than him on the subject.

When attendees criticized Hill for this, Tempel defended his colleague and said this legislative session is uniquely difficult due to a backlog of bills caused by a slow start due to COVID-19.

"I don't think anyone has ever seen a Legislature like this," he said.

Hill and Tempel also discussed increasing calls to support a convention of states, which they both oppose to varying degrees.

A convention of states is a method of amending and changing the U.S. Constitution if officially supported by 34 or more states. The movement for a convention is supported mainly by rightwing organizations that seek to impose limits on the powers of the federal government, reduce the government's spending, or other goals.

The convention also has support from some leftwing organizations that aim to reverse the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and limit the ability of large corporations to donate to political campaigns.

The convention of states faces significant pushback in Helena, and Tempel especially said he's opposed to the idea.

"Thomas Jefferson wrote the Constitution and he's a hell of a lot smarter than I am," he said. "We've lived with this Constitution for this long and I'm not going anywhere with it. When you have something that works, I don't think you should screw with it."

Tempel said opening up the Constitution to changes could be very dangerous and the convention could very easily get out of control. Some say the changes made would need to be agreed upon before the convention starts so a run-away convention is unlikely, but this is not widely agreed upon by legal scholars.

Hill was more sympathetic to the cause but said he opposes the idea for now based in part on the recommendation of the John Birch Society, an anti-communist rightwing political organization.

An attendee said she sent an email to Temple about the convention of states, representing an organization in favor of it and said they want to debate with them on the subject.

Hill County Republicans Chair Andrew Brekke said there will be another town hall like this one at the end of the session, and another specifically to address the matter of the convention of states with opponents including Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, and proponents.