February 6, 2021

When I moved to Montana in 2018 and found my little acre just outside of Bozeman, I could imagine myself staying in ‘The Last Best Place’ for a long time although, admittedly, there were many times during the Trump years that I toyed with the idea of moving overseas.  And, in fact, I think there is a pretty good probability that I would have carried through on that threat had Trump been re-elected.  And it is absolutely true if his coup had been successful!   I’ve lived overseas before [Kuwait, France], and I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled fairly widely abroad, so the prospect of living in a foreign country is not all that intimidating.  I view it more as an adventure.    

So why am I bringing this up now that Biden won the election, legitimately I might add, and the country seems to be getting back to some semblance of political and diplomatic normalcy?  Unfortunately, while the country seems to be moving forward, the new Republican regime in Montana seems hell bent on moving backwards.  The bottom line is that I’m just not sure I want to spend the next four years watching the Montana legislature pass law after law to move this state backwards and make it a less desirable place to live. 

The Republican dominated Montana state legislature and our newly elected Republican governor have been in office about one month now and they have offered up a number of bills that are more about individual legislators pushing their own personal agendas than about actually addressing the big picture issues facing the state. 

Montana is one of many states that are intending to pass bills restricting voter access under the guise of ensuring election integrity – even though the last election was, according to officials within the Trump administration, the ‘most secure’ election conducted to date.  The real goal of these laws is to ensure the Republicans’ grip on power in the state.

This will be made easier because another of the laws being proposed would give the governor the sole authority to appoint judges when there are vacancies in the courts due to deaths, resignations, etc.  There is currently a commission charged with reviewing and vetting potential candidates but under the new law that commission would be disbanded so ‘King Gianforte’, the current governor, would have the sole authority to make those appointments.   Those judicial positions would be up for election in the next election cycle but, the fact is, incumbent judges have a huge political advantage, so once these people are in place, they are likely to remain in place.

As I have pointed out before, the Montana state legislature is busy crafting anti-abortion laws and laws that restrict the rights of transgender students.   One can only assume that laws affecting the entire LGBTQ community are not far off.  I find it extremely ironic that a party that continuously espouses a desire for a smaller, less intrusive government and loudly advocates for personal responsibility is so eager to stick their government noses into people’s personal lives.

The legislature just passed a bill to limit liability for companies if customers or employees contract COVID on their premises.  This is the bill that Governor Gianforte said was necessary for him to lift the state-wide mask mandate.  One can assume that Gianforte will carry through on his campaign promise to repeal the mask mandate in direct contravention of guidance provided by the CDC. 

I have talked about the ridiculous law that the governor is about to sign that will allow concealed firearms to be carried just about everywhere, including on college campuses, by almost everyone who wants to, regardless of training or permit.  This bill will allow firearms to be carried in restaurants and bars and in all state and local government offices, in addition to on campuses.

There is also a piece of legislation being pushed through that will allow vaping inside of buildings such as restaurants.  It turns out that the individual pushing this piece of legislation has ties to the vaping industry, and once, again is pushing a personal agenda at the expense of solving real problems that will benefit all of Montana.  If you decide to come to Montana this summer and decide to go have dinner in one of our fine restaurants (and we have many), you will not only have to look around and wonder which people in the restaurant are armed, but you may well be subjected to second hand vaping smoke.  I ask again, what the hell are these people thinking?

My daughter graduates from NYU in May and will likely be attending graduate school on the East Coast so perhaps its time to begin rethinking my long-term plans.  The Last Best Place is rapidly becoming less so.