�ԹϺ���

Montana’s majority-Republican Legislature stamped out a mandate Monday for restraining the courts and cutting taxes as the first day of the 2025 session gaveled in. 

GOP lawmakers who have seen the courts reject several of their bills on constitutional grounds in recent years pointed to a dominating performance in last year’s election as proof of voter demand for Republican policies. 

“The voters want court reform. Article Seven of the Montana Constitution, no less than 20 times, says that the Legislature plays a role in developing a judicial system for the state of Montana,” said Sen. Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings. “I’m going to be blunt here: Republican voters are tired of the fact that they elect Republican majorities by overwhelming margins, they elect a Republican governor that signs bills that are passed by overwhelming margins in the Legislature, only to see partisan judges and partisan courts veto those bills.” 

Republican legislators spent much of 2024 crafting 27 bills that mostly check judicial power, through measures like performance evaluations for judges and a pivot to partisan judicial elections. 

GOP lawmakers also signaled some combination of reforms to both property and income taxes. Property tax assessments have increased sharply since 2022, while income tax collections drive a long-term trend of surplus revenue for the state.

House Speaker Brandon Ler, R-Savage, told �ԹϺ��� that reforms are due for both property and income taxes, but it’s important that income taxes are used to fund property tax relief.

“We’re going to give tax relief. We want to make sure that that tax relief goes to where we are seeing the surplus come from right now, not saying that we’re not going to work on the property tax issue, but (income tax) is  where the bulk of our funding comes from,” Ler said, noting that 70% of state tax revenue comes from income tax. 

Democrats have their own tax priorities. Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, emphasized the need for property tax reform and affordable housing. 

“Every year, Montanans pay their taxes, as is their obligation, they trust us to ensure that those dollars are spent on their behalf to meet the greatest needs of all Montanans. Those needs are going to be the focus of our Democratic caucus in the next 90 days,” Flowers said. “And I trust it’s going to be in this body as well. In general, some of those needs are fair taxes. We’ll bring some important revisions to our property tax law that will provide long-term tax relief, especially for lower middle-income Montanans. We’re going to be focused on housing affordability.”

On one of the first votes of the session, Flowers succeeded in rejecting an attempt to create a committee for review of the executive branch, including the people nominated to lead state departments. Flowers said a single committee wasn’t necessary and proposed reassigning its members to other committees. The executive review committee should be an on-call committee, Flowers said. Eight Republicans sided with Democrats to reject the committee, 27 to 23.

Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, said a single committee charged with approving nominations to Gianforte’s administration was too powerful. 

“I believe that is way too much power for any one committee in this body to have. So for that very reason, there is no way I could vote for this,” Emrich said.

Senate President Matt Regier, in his first day on the job, asked Republicans to reject Flowers’ motion. However the immediate past president of the Senate, Jason Ellsworth, who lost his party’s nomination for Senate president to Regier in November, sided with Flowers, saying there wasn’t enough work to justify the committee. 

Earlier in the day, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate identified their session priorities as health care access, rising property taxes and Indigenous affairs. House Minority Whip SJ Howell, D-Missoula, highlighted Medicaid expansion as one of the caucus’s key policy platforms. The health coverage program is set to sunset this year if lawmakers do not continue it.

“We have to extend this program,” Howell said, advocating for a modified version of the current policy. “Lifting the sunset is the floor, not the ceiling.” 

Howell also pushed for additional investment in health care, including increasing Medicaid reimbursements relative to inflation and creating a “permanent, sustainable source for funding for community-based behavioral health care.”

Flowers cited three policy avenues for lowering property taxes: cutting taxable value of primary residences through a homestead exemption, adjusting property tax rates to ease the burden on middle-class homeowners and creating a tax credit for homeowners and renters. The governor is also proposing a homestead exemption this session, drafted by a task force he formed to address property taxes.

House Minority Whip Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, highlighted access to education as one of the main priorities for the American Indian Caucus, a coalition made up of 12 Indigenous lawmakers. Morigeau also advocated for teaching Indigenous languages in schools and boosting law enforcement to help address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Even with a gain by Democrats of 10 seats in the House and two in the Senate relative to the 2023 session, a Republican majority in both chambers could pose challenges for the minority’s agenda.

“We’re ready to work with anyone who’s ready to work with us,” said House minority leader, Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula.

Other statewide elected officials took their oaths of office and celebrated inaugurations elsewhere on the Capitol grounds on Monday. 

Montana Chamber of Commerce President Todd O’Hair officiated a ceremony on the State Capitol building steps to welcome the all-Republican lineup of statewide office holders: Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, State Superintendent Susie Hedalen, Commissioner of Securities and Insurance James Brown, Gov. Greg Gianforte and Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras. 

Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court Cory Swanson, who took his own oath of office in the court’s hearing room earlier that morning, administered the pledges of all statewide officials.

In his remarks to the gathered crowd of supporters, Gianforte presented a positive overview of the state’s Republican leadership and the status of the state’s economic and business landscape after his first term. He pledged to continue his conservative financial agenda to cut taxes and promote high-wage jobs and industry around the state. 

“Ultimately, Montanans spoke loud and clear. They want leadership that delivers,” Gianforte said. “As we look to the future, our vision remains to create more good-paying jobs for Montanans, open the doors of greater opportunity and protect our Montana way of life.” 

Though he made reference to specific workforces — including teachers, farmers and ranchers, law enforcement and miners — Gianforte did not call on the Legislature to pass specific laws that he said would help execute his agenda.

In November, the governor laid out a proposed $17.9 billion biennium budget for the Legislature to consider. If passed, Gianforte’s plan would include the continuation of Medicaid expansion, additional income and business tax cuts, teacher pay increases and more beds for the state’s prison system. 

Over the next week, lawmakers will begin to assess various parts of the governor’s budget proposals in committees made up of legislators from each chamber. Other policy committees will begin scheduling bills for hearings as legislative staff work to finalize and introduce draft bills. As of midday on Monday, lawmakers had requested 4,282 bills to be drafted.