Judiciary, property taxes take center stage in leadership’s first-half review.
As the 2025 Montana Legislature hit its midway point, leaders from both parties spoke on their achievements from the first 48 days and their priorities going into the second half of the session.
Republicans touted bills they have pushed to change the judiciary — a major priority for the party — but Democrats said they’d killed a number of those bills and were prepared to continue.
“For far too long, Montana’s judiciary has overstepped its bounds, blocking the will of the people and legislating from the bench,” said Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, R-Savage. “House Republicans are fighting back.”
House Minority Leader Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, said the Democrats are active on the battlefield too.
“We’re going to do everything we can to knee cap each bill the majority brings that try to take over the courts,” Sullivan said. “We have independent, impartial courts right now, and we need to keep it that way.”
The 69th Legislature breaks until March 14, and the first half of the session has been punctuated by spats and turbulence in the Senate.
“It’s been wild,” said Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, in a meeting with reporters Tuesday. “ … Honestly, speaking … leadership’s job is to deal with a lot of things, not just legislation. But I wish the first half of the session was more focused on legislation.”
Republicans hold a majority in both chambers, though a cohort of nine Senators in that party have formed what equates to a majority coalition with Democrats in the upper chamber.
“We started this session with a commitment to freedom, fairness and affordability,” said Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade. “We believe, so far, we’ve been able to deliver on those goals and values. All 18 of our Democratic votes have been critical in passing a number of important bills and defeating many harmful ones.”
In the meantime, the House has churned through its work.
Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, said the House has considered a high volume — and high quality — of legislation.
“I think the professionalism in the House has been tremendous,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’ve had a few moments, but that’s OK.”
Sullivan said there has been “a lot” of bipartisan work in the House.
“The relationship working across the aisle has been good,” Sullivan said.
Property taxes
Property taxes are one of those bipartisan issues because they have increased substantially across the state.
Three major property tax proposals advanced out of the House, one Republican bill and two from Democrats. Majority Leader Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, said the idea was generally to move all of them to the Senate together.
However, Fitzpatrick said House Bill 231, sponsored by Conrad Republican Rep. Llew Jones and supported by Gov. Greg Gianforte, might end up being the most preferred. At least for his urban district, it’s a no brainer.
“There isn’t a person in my district that isn’t going to benefit from (HB) 231 unless you’ve got some property somewhere else,” Fitzpatrick said.
HB 231 would shift some of the tax burden onto those who are not residents of the state, but own property in Montana.
Since it was introduced, Fitzpatrick said, it was amended to allow for more of a tax cut for homes valued on the lower end of the spectrum.
Most of the discussion around property taxes has been which of the 18 Montana tax classes will have their rates adjusted — with a focus on reductions for residential payers — and if there’s a tax credit the two parties can agree on.
Another change to HB 231 is that it is linked with House Bill 154, a bill, from Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula. Karlen’s bill would create a tax credit to help people who may have been living in their home for years, but end up priced out, while House Bill 155, from Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula, would establish a tax rate for residential properties based on market value of the property.
Thane’s bill has some support for Republican leadership, with Senate President Matt Reiger saying ideas in it have “merit.”
Judiciary
In a video update of the first part of the session, Speaker Ler identified two judiciary bills in particular that Republicans had moved forward.
He said House Bill 39, sponsored by Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, would bring transparency to races by allowing political parties to support judicial candidates “so Montanans actually know where they stand.”
Ler also pointed to House Bill 65, sponsored by Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel, which would audit the State Bar of Montana to “shine a light” on how the legal system operates.
“But the most important bills are still yet to come,” Ler said.
One of the biggest debates has been a partisan judiciary. Democrats have wanted to keep partisan politics outside the third branch, but Republicans argue politics are already present, and voters deserve transparency.
House Bill 295, brought by Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, would have allowed judicial candidates to list their party affiliation and failed to pass the floor. The House also voted down a proposal, House Bill 751, sponsored by Rep. Lukas Schubert, R-Kalispell, that would have made the Supreme Court candidates list their party affiliation.
Sullivan called killing those two House bills “very good.”
Senate Bill 42, which would require justices of the peace, and district and state supreme court judges to run on partisan ballots, passed the upper chamber and will be taken up by the House.
Medicaid Expansion
A major priority for Democrats and some Republicans this session was reauthorizing Medicaid expansion, which insures nearly 80,000 people, and a major proposal to do so, from Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, already passed both chambers.
Legislators from small towns have said the program is critical to keeping little hospitals, which operate on the margins, open, and other supporters have said it’s important for the economy.
Although the state supports expansion, the Trump administration is making aggressive moves to cut the federal government, and any decrease could impact Montana.
“With all the talk about Medicaid and Medicare potentially being cut significantly, it has put the community into a tailspin,” said Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena. “People are very afraid of losing their services.”
Social Issues
Republicans also celebrated the quick movement of some bills aimed at protecting women and girls, which Democrats have fought against and criticized Friday as discriminatory.
“When it comes to protecting Montana’s children, House Republicans are standing strong against extreme gender ideology,” Speaker Pro Tempore Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, said in a video update.
Zolnikov pointed to a couple of bills in particular, both sponsored by Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, R-Billings.
Zolnikov said House Bill 300 ensures girls’ sports locker rooms and private spaces “remain for biological females.” The bill also aims to keep “biological men” out of athletic programs for females. She also touted House Bill 121, to designate bathroom use for strictly males and females, as furthering the same protections.
“Parents, not politicians, should decide what’s best for their children,” Zolnikov said. “We will never stop fighting for Montana’s families.”
Democratic legislators have fired back during floor sessions and in committees, with many of the bills drawing significant debate, including arguments some legislation is attacking people who are transgender.
Sullivan spoke on the topic Friday, saying Republicans were focusing on the wrong things.
“Montana sent us here to fund schools, fix roads, cut their taxes, and instead, the other party has been pretty obsessed on the floor with social issues,” Sullivan said. “Voters, I think, would be disgusted to know just how many bills we have had on the floor that have been regulating people’s bodies.”
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to state Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, was not the sponsor of House Bill 751. The sponsor is Rep. Lukas Schubert, R-Kalispell.
Daily Montanan reporter Micah Drew contributed to this report.