At this point, it’s hard to predict which direction the 2025 Montana State Legislature will take. That’s because this legislature is heading in two different directions. One path would encourage Montanans to be divided and angry, fighting for scraps and looking for scapegoats. The other is a path towards prosperity, freedom and a better future.

 

The bills that often get the headlines, sponsored by legislators who would trample Montanans’ freedoms, aim for more control of our everyday lives. No matter is too private, too personal, for them to leave alone. They want the government to decide what we do in the privacy of our own bedrooms, bathrooms, and doctor’s offices, and they will use the heavy hand of the law to get their way. 

 

These legislators want to use public dollars to fund a shadow system of schools for the rich while our public schools go wanting (SB 320). They would ignore local control of schools and require religious texts to be posted in public schools (SB 114). 

 

They attack unions, interfering in the relationship between workers and their employers (SB 94). They will once again try to pass “right to work” (for less pay), a way to strip workers of their power to stand up for fair wages and working conditions. They would continue to pass tax breaks for billionaires, making it impossible to fund quality schools, well-maintained roads and highways, safe communities and affordable health care (SB 323).

 

They pay no attention to their own legislative staff, who tell them again and again that the bills they are passing are unconstitutional. At the cost of millions of dollars of legal fees (that we pay for with our taxes), the Republican supermajority passed many bills they were warned were unconstitutional  in 2023. They are on track to do the same again this session. They focus on passing bills to make our court system more partisan, ignoring the separation of powers that protects our rights (SB 42 and HB 39 are just two of 27 such bills). Their attempts to trample our beloved state constitution by attacking the courts are short-sighted and once again, often unconstitutional.

 

They tell Montanans our votes don’t matter, that they plan to overturn our right to make our own medical decisions, passed by 58% of the voters in the 2024 election (HB 316). They would ban women from getting health care even at the expense of losing their lives. They will try to make it more difficult for Montanans to vote and to put initiatives on the ballot.

 

They would require teachers and public employees to check who goes into our bathrooms to make sure they pick the right door (HB 121, now headed to the governor’s desk.) What would it cost to train every public employee to determine the sex of every person going into our facilities? Or would we require chromosome tests of the public? These legislators focus their disdain on the 1% of our population that is transgender. They aim their rancor at some of the most discriminated people in our society, while they would deny parents the right to determine their own children’s health care. 

 

These bills are hateful and insulting, encouraging Montanans to get caught up in the so-called culture wars. Most of these bad bills come from other states, a nightmarish word-for-word cookie cutter of terrible ideas that don’t matter to Montanans and how we live our lives. Rather than getting government out of our lives, they would interfere with the proud, independent, “live and let live” legacy of Montana.

 

The other direction, forged by Democrats and a handful of courageous Republicans, aims to find solutions that address what is troubling everyday Montanans. These legislators want to address the unfair property taxes that are threatening our seniors and workers (HB 154), a sad legacy of Governor Gianforte and the Republican supermajority in 2023. They know that tax cuts for the rich aren’t helping everyday Montanans, and that billionaires can afford to pay for the public schools and public services that are necessary for their businesses to thrive. 

 

These legislators are working to improve teacher salaries (HB 252), now some of the lowest in the nation. They are studying how to strengthen and fund our public schools, the schools 90% of Montana kids attend. They know the cost of housing is unsustainable, and are looking for creative, market-based ways to increase affordable housing, protect renters, and protect mobile home owners from predatory rental price increases (HB 305). 

 

These common-sense legislators are close to passing a state pay plan that was negotiated between state and university employees and the Governor (HB 13). They understand that unions are voluntary, a way for workers and their employers to work together productively. They are working to fix the retirement system for public safety officers to reflect the important work they do keeping our communities safe.

 

They work to reauthorize Medicaid (HB 245), knowing that 80,000 of Montanans are healthier and better able to work in our small businesses because they finally have health insurance. They understand Medicaid is key to keeping our rural hospitals open, and they are working to address inadequate reimbursement for nursing homes. They aren’t interested in selling off Montana’s treasured public lands, and they see conservation easements as a win-win free market way to preserve open lands. 

 

They will support a resolution to protect Social Security, the system that keeps seniors and people with disabilities out of poverty and allows them to live their lives in dignity. Social Security is supported by the vast majority of Americans. The resolution will ask Congress to stop any cuts in Social Security and make improvements instead.

 

So, which direction will Montana's 2025 Legislature take? Will it follow the path towards division, discrimination and restricting our constitutional rights? Will it strive to emulate the chaos and destruction we see on the national level? Or will it take the path towards civility, common sense and community,  working together to make Montana a better state for everyone, a place in which our children can grow, thrive and be proud to live? 

 

The jury is still out. But we as citizens have a voice and a say in what happens. Contact your legislator; call them at

(406) 444-4800, or find their direct phones and emails at https://www.legmt.gov/legislators. Ask them to address real problems. Tell them you support our Constitution and the protections it contains. Ask them to set aside partisanship and rancor. Ask them to deliver. Remind them they work for you and that you vote. Your voice matters!

 

Terry Minow is chair of Big Sky 55+, an organization of Montanans 55 and over bringing people together to work for solutions that make life better for Montanans of all ages. She is a fourth generation Montanan who ranches in the Boulder Valley south of Helena.