Letter to the Editor - A different viewpoint on the legislative transmittal

Dear Editor:

Since there was no non-partisan transmittal legislative update in north central Montana, here is the update for your readers from my viewpoint of what went on, on the other side of the aisle — Democrats.

There were a lot of good bills and proposals presented from the minority, but most were tabled in committee. In the House, of the 98 bills on the floor the last two days before transmittal only 16 were sponsored by Democrats.

This is my 10th session in the legislature since 2003, and it’s by far the most hyper partisan session I’ve ever been in. There were sessions when there were a lot of good bills that were worked on in a bipartisan manner, more then, than now.

On day 45, I got up on the House floor and spoke strongly against Republican Caleb Hinkle’s HB 251, his Right To Work bill, and supported all of the unions in North Central Montana. It died on a 38-62 vote. 

A report from the Democrats point of view is on Havre Daily News’ website in the Opinion section at https://www.havredailynews.com/story/2021/03/05/opinion/montana-democrats-review-2021-legislature-transmittal-packet/533038.html .

Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy,

D-Box Elder