What Elected Officials Can Do Right Now

With ongoing conversations about federal immigration enforcement and civil rights protections, many Montanans are asking: What can our state and local governments actually do to protect our communities?

The answer: A lot more than you might think.

From expanding civil rights protections to ensuring education access for every child, Montana’s state legislature and local governments have real power to make our communities safer, more welcoming, and more just. Here’s what they can do — and what Democratic leaders are fighting for right now.

What Montana’s State Legislature Can Do

Montana’s state legislature controls nearly every aspect of civil rights law, education policy, healthcare access, and workplace protections in our state. Here are the most important powers:

1. Expand Civil Rights Protections

The Montana Human Rights Act (Title 49) is our state’s primary anti-discrimination law. Right now, it protects Montanans from discrimination based on race, religion, age, sex, disability, and several other characteristics — but not sexual orientation or gender identity.

What this means: In most of Montana, LGBTQ+ people can legally be fired from their jobs, denied housing, or refused service at businesses simply for who they are.

What Democrats are fighting for: Expanding the Montana Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity. This would provide the same protections to LGBTQ+ Montanans that everyone else already has.

Reality check: Democratic legislators have introduced this bill repeatedly. It has been blocked by Republican majorities every time. The 2026 election can determine whether we finally pass it.

2. Defend Montana’s Constitutional Rights

Montana’s Constitution provides the strongest privacy and dignity protections in the entire United States. Article II guarantees:

• Right to Privacy: “The right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without showing a compelling state interest.”
• Individual Dignity: “The dignity of the human being is inviolable.”
• Equal Protection: No person shall be denied equal protection of the laws.

What this means: State legislators have a constitutional duty to protect privacy, dignity, and equal protection for all Montanans. When they vote for bills like HB 121 (the bathroom ban) or restrictions on medical freedom, they’re violating these core Montana values.

3. Ensure Education Access for Every Child

Montana law guarantees education access to every child in the state, regardless of immigration status. This isn’t just policy — it’s been upheld by Montana courts as a constitutional right.

What Democrats defend: Equal access to education, protection from discrimination in schools, adequate funding for all schools, anti-bullying policies, and mental health services for students.

Why it matters: When all children can access education safely, entire communities benefit. Education is how we build Montana’s future.

4. Protect All Montana Workers

The state legislature sets labor laws, workplace safety standards, and wage requirements. Montana Democrats fight to expand protections for all workers:

• Living wage standards
• Paid family leave
• Stronger wage theft protections
• Workplace safety for all workers
• Right to organize

Key principle: Protecting ALL workers makes ALL workers safer. When some workers can be exploited, everyone’s wages are driven down.

5. Guarantee Healthcare Access

Montana’s legislature controls Medicaid, healthcare regulation, and public health infrastructure. Right now, Medicaid expansion covers 96,000 Montanans — and Democratic legislators have fought to protect it.

In 2025: Every single Democratic legislator voted to protect Medicaid expansion. Every single Republican voted to eliminate it.

Elections have consequences.

What Local Governments Can Do

Cities and counties have significant power to protect their residents — even when the state legislature won’t act. Here’s what local government can do right now:

1. Pass Nondiscrimination Ordinances

This is the most important local power.

Five Montana cities have already passed nondiscrimination ordinances (NDOs) that protect residents from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations:

• Missoula (2010) — first in Montana
• Helena (2012)
• Bozeman (2014)
• Butte-Silver Bow County (2014)
• Whitefish (2016)

What about Billings? In 2016, Billings City Council voted 6-5 AGAINST passing an NDO. Billings — Montana’s largest city — is one of the only major Montana cities that does NOT protect its LGBTQ+ residents from discrimination.

The bottom line: Local elections matter. Your city council decides whether Billings families are protected or not. Missoula, Bozeman, Helena, Butte, and Whitefish all made the choice to protect their residents. Billings should too.

2. Set Local Law Enforcement Policies

Cities and counties control their own police departments. This means local governments can:

• Limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement (ICE)
• Focus on local public safety, not federal enforcement
• Protect crime victims and witnesses regardless of immigration status
• Build community trust through fair policing policies

Why this matters: When immigrants fear calling police, entire communities are less safe. Local law enforcement should focus on local crime, not federal immigration enforcement. That’s just good public safety policy.

3. Protect Tenants and Expand Housing

Cities control zoning, housing codes, and rental regulations. Local governments can pass tenant protection ordinances, enforce fair housing laws more strictly than the state, zone for affordable housing, and protect renters from discrimination.

What State & Local Governments Cannot Do

Let’s be clear: State and local governments cannot enforce immigration law. That is exclusively a federal power. State and local governments cannot:

• Create or change immigration policy
• Deport anyone
• Override federal immigration authority

What they CAN do: Decide whether to use local resources to help federal enforcement, protect all residents’ constitutional rights, and ensure everyone has access to education, public safety, and basic services.

What’s at Stake in 2026

The 2026 election will determine control of Montana’s state legislature. Every seat matters. Here’s what’s on the line:

• Will Montana expand civil rights protections to include LGBTQ+ people? Democrats say yes. Republicans have blocked it for 20 years.
• Will we defend Montana’s constitutional rights to privacy and dignity? Democrats defend them. Republicans passed HB 121 (bathroom ban) violating those rights.
• Will we protect Medicaid for 96,000 Montanans? All Democrats voted yes in 2025. All Republicans voted no.
• Will we ensure education access and workplace protections for all? Democratic legislators fight for these protections. Republicans consistently work to restrict them.

How You Can Help

• Register to vote: Make sure you’re registered at voterportal.mt.gov/
• Learn about your legislators: Find your House District in the voter portal and research your representatives’ records. You can find information on the state government site. Montana Free Press also offers a Bill Tracker
• Volunteer: Join phone banks, canvassing, and voter registration drives. Sign up online
• Attend local meetings: Show up to city council and county commission meetings
• Support Billings NDO: Urge city council to pass protections like Missoula, Bozeman, and Helena have

Montana values dignity, respect, and community.

Our state and local governments have real power to protect those values — if we elect leaders who will use that power wisely.

In 2026, every vote matters. Every seat counts. The Montana we build depends on the choices we make at the ballot box.