FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Republican Leaders Are Attempting to Make Permanent Changes to Tilt the Legislative Process in Their Favor
Helena, MT – Montana Democratic Legislative Leaders today excoriated Republican leadership for holding an illegitimate meeting of the Joint Rules Committee, and vowed to challenge any actions they take. Rather than using the legal avenues available to them — like calling for a special session — Republican leaders are attempting to permanently tilt the Legislative process in their favor by forcing rule changes through an illegitimate committee.
House Minority Leader Casey Schreiner said “a handful of power hungry Republican Leadership members are here out trying to exploit the pandemic in a brazen, partisan power grab, with major implications for the integrity of the Legislative process for years to come.”
Joint Rules Committee Vice Chair Kim Dudik emphasized that the “attempted convening of this committee of the 2019 Legislative session, under these circumstances, is illegitimate, and without precedent.”
A letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas by counsel representing Democratic Caucuses stated “any action taken will have no legal force or effect and any such effort will be challenged in court.” Minority Leader Schreiner re-iterated that Democrats were “not saber-rattling” and that the illegitimate actions taken by this group will not go unchallenged.