Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. The Montana House of representatives voted 68 and 32 to bart transit transgender representative zoe from speaking for the rest of the year, the vote took place after she said that republican lawmakers would have blood on their hands if they supported a ban it to ban gender affirming care for transgender youth, she will be able to retain her seat and cast votes remotely but will not be able to participate in debates. Mr. Speaker i present to article five subtenant of the Montana Constitution house of representatives finds unrepresented from House District 100 clearly violated the rules, collective rights, safety, dignity, integrity and decorum of house of representatives on the floor of the house on april 24, 2023. Based upon this finding the representative shall be disciplined the terms of this discipline are as follows. The representative from House District number 100 wont no longer be admitted to this floor, house into a room for houston gallery. By the voting only in floor proceedings to be in the process currently in place for the duration this section until the 16th legislature adjourns, mr. The speakers that will process will be as follows open on the motion following the representative from House District 100 will have an opportunity to make remarks to have three proponents and three opponents. Each member about five minutes in the sponsor can close. Without objection . Would you open on your motion . Mr. Speaker and members the oath of each individual member net duty under it to act conscientiously for that good pursuant to patients mental of legislative procedure every member of the legislature is presumed to be the equal of each member and each has rights that must be respected. The rights of the minority of the majority both must be protected. Freedom in this body involves obedience to all the rules of this body including the rules of decorum. Mason section 121 sub two states no person may participate in conduct that disrupts or disturbs the orderly proceedings of the body. Mason section 561 sub at one states a legislative body has the right to regulate the conduct of its members and make discipline a member as it deems appropriate. Monday this body witnessed one of its members participating in conduct that disrupted and disturbed the orderly proceedings of this body. This member did not proceed to the order of the speaker to come to order failing to clear the floor. And instead encourage the continuation of the disruption of this body placing legislators, staff and even our pages at risk of harm. For these reasons it is my motion they represent from House District 100 will no longer be admitted to this floor, house anteroom or houston gallery for the duration of the session until the 68th legislature adjourns, mr. Speaker. Representative would you like five minutes to make remarks . Thank you, mr. Speaker. It is my honor today, as with every day in this body to rise on behalf of my constituents and House District 100 for montana who elected me to the representative in the peoples house. Today i rise in defense of those constituents of my community and of democracy itself. Last week i spoke on the governors amendment to senate bill 99 which abandon gender affirming care. This was a bill that was one of many targeting Lgbtq Community in montana. This legislature has systematically attacked that community. We have seen bills targeting our art forms, our books, our history our healthcare. And i rose up in defense of my community that day, speaking to harm these bills bring and i have firsthand experience knowing about. Ive had friends have taken their lives because these bills. I fielded calls from families in montana including one families whose transit teenager attempted to take her life while watching a hearing on one of the anti trans bills. In that hearing our caucus pleaded with the chair of the Judiciary Committee to not allow certain testimony to keep decorum and we were told a lot of for faithful have a lot of opinions on these things. So when i rose up and said there is a blood on your hands, i was not being hyperbolic. I was speaking to the real consequences of the vote that we as legislatures take in this body. And when the speaker asked me too apologize on behalf of decorum what he was really asking me too do is to be silence when my community is facing bills that get us killed. He is asking me too be complicit in this legislature of our community and i refused to do so. And i will always refuse to do so. The people demanding democracy work demanding that the representatives be heard, we gaveled down what he was doing as driving a nail in the coffin of democracy. But you cannot kill democracy that easily and that is why they kept chanting let her speak and why i raised my microphone to amplify their voices to make sure the people who elected me here are hurt and when this body seeks to pass bills, the harm that this body is held accountable for those actions. I am not sure what comes next but i will do what ive always done. I will rise in support of my community. I will take the hard and moral choice and stand up in defense of the people who elected me to do so and the people in our communities and i will say im grateful for those who stood up in defense of democracy on monday. And i will also say that i hear everyone. I hear my constituents and yours who say thank you for standing up and while there were comments about safety i would say that the protest was peaceful and also when we talk safety we think about the safety the bills bring or dont bring because you say there were staff endangered but i know in this building and the quiet hallways when its just me, the staff come up to me and say thank you. Because they have loved ones these bills attack, who these bills hurt. I will always stand up for them. Always no matter what happens i will stand up for democracy in the state of montana. Thank you. Representative. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Im going to speak on the motion before us from a different point of view. We were talking about some of the things about the Trans Community throughout not only the state of montana but also throughout the country and beyond into canada. A community i represent have trans in my community and in some tribes we call them to spirit people. My late uncle who was one of my teachers, one of my mentors in my way of life always said one thing to keep in mind that no matter who you are, that we are all equal under the eyes of the almighty and always remember when you point your finger at somebody, one is pointing back so when you take that into context that with this thing here before us theres a lot of events that happened not only in this body but over in the body of the senate and in the last 21 years as well as 21 years and 11 sessions this is nothing compared to some of the events that occurred making this agree just as they are. We had a democratic leader that sat right in the third or fourth row. With the representative on the other side and theres even pictures in the gallery. That was uncalled for. Why werent they taken to the level of this maybe it was because of whatever situation that was at the time and even over in the senate, there were votes that were taken and bills that were on the floor that have been silenced and we got up and hit the desk and almost got charged for messing up the states property. Why werent we disciplined at that time . We should have. I would have went to jail because i would have been found guilty but at the same time we are picking one person in this body for something that she believes is right. The one situation that she stands to represent the same amount of people that i represent, the same amount of people that she represents down the line but she had to stand in solidarity with each other to the level of where we should get along. Thats what it is. Since 2016 thats when the whole country had gone so far right and left to the values that put once again another and its exactly the same verbiage that my colleague here is being in a situation she cant come in here. Theres a congressman who said the same words. Last week why hasnt the congress disciplined him . Whats good for them should be good for us vice versa. So i think we need to just put this behind us. Let it represent the people she represents, lets get on and do the work they sent us here for. I voted no. Representative casey. Thank you mr. Speaker. Members of the 68th legislature one of the most important rights of any legislative body is the right to regulate the conduct of its members as well as discipline a member as the body deems appropriate. The state legislative body possesses inherent rights of self protection which is reflected in our own house rules and the definition of a question of privilege, which includes anything that affects the collective rights, safety, dignity and integrity of the house. Our state constitution provides that either house may punish a member with good cause shown, with a concurrence of two thirds of all of its members. Our state constitution, our house rules, the manual of legislative procedure all reinforce the fact that this house, this body holds dear the right to self protection. We today are exercising this right based on the inappropriate behavior on the house floor of the representative from House District 100 on april 24, 2023. This behavior violated the collective rights and safety of 99 other members of this body. Our staff, pages and the public and based on this showing of good because i would recommend a yes vote on the motion to discipline a representative from the district 100. Thank you members and mr. Speaker. Representative howell. Thank you mr. Speaker. Members, i hope no one is expecting any jokes from me today because i think what we are doing here is deeply, deeply serious. I want to echo my friend and colleague in seat 31 and remind us why we are here. We are here because we are struggling with the debate that we have had from the beginning of the session on a set of bills that directly and the daily impact the Lgbtq Community. I will remind the body that not one democrat throughout any of those bills, we didnt look for that fight. But when it came to us we did what we had to do. We did our job. We stood up. We stood with our community. We told the truths that we live every day. We hoped you would listen. Thats our job. It is deeply unsurprising to me that the Community Responded on monday the way that they did because its not just that one has been silenced. Its that it happened after a session of debating bills that only impact some of us and struggling to fight for equal treatment under the law. I would remind folks that the right to protest and in fact the right to protest against the government is a clearly held weight in both the state constitution and the federal constitution we took oaths to protect those constitutions. I want to note for the record that my experience personally in this body and in this building although i love my job and i show up every day eager to do it is that i have faced a series of offensive behaviors and actions. There are people in this room that have said things about me in the press and online that i find deeply offensive, deeply offensive. And i find that theres been a pattern of unwillingness to listen to a diverse set of opinions on the bills in front of us and that is our job. I know without a doubt that there are deeply held disagreements about the bills that we hear about the policies that we are debating and those disagreements are part of the process we have to be able to discuss them even when its uncomfortable. I know that we have rules. The speaker before me laid them out in some clarity. I believe that those must be held not to protect us as individuals or feelings of experiences but to protect the process, to protect our job. The work we are doing to pass bills and policies that touch the lives of every montana in this state and that is where i think weve gone deeply wrong in this process. Because we are considering the rules not to protect the rights of all of us, to engage in our democratic process but instead to protect people as individuals. Its time to put the work first. Thats our job. We were not elected to come up here and put ourselves first. None of us were. I believe a yes vote on this motion puts our democratic process and important job as legislators for second and feelings and experiences first and i think thats wrong. I think we have one shot to write this and its a yes vote and i hope some of you will join me in voting. Representative. Mr. Speaker, i wish to speak on this motion. The behavior of the representative of the House District 100 has been in the news for over a week. And i must admit that opinions are concerning even within my caucus. But today we are not here to pass judgment on what might have been said or done before this past monday. But rather, to consider the specific actions that were taken on a specific day. Its an irrefutable fact that the representative in question did indeed actively support and arguably inside the disruptive antics of the demonstrators that gathered in the house gallery. But its also true that the representative had other options. One was to join other legislators by leaving the floor as was directed by the speaker. Another would have been to try to calm the crowd. The representative of House District 100 chose neither and so here we are. As a consequence of the representatives actions, the orderly workings of the body had to be suspended so we could not proceed with doing our duty which is to conduct the business of all citizens of montana. This is an assault on our Representative Democracy. A spirited debate and a Free Expression of ideas cannot flourish in an atmosphere of turmoil. Undoubtedly, some will and have cast this matter in terms of freedom of speech or the oppression of the minority. I would argue that it is neither. Rather, what is at stake is the expectation that any member of this body, whoever that might be, has the duty to strive to maintain decorum so that the peoples work, the work of all can be accomplished. The representative of House District 100 failed. Worse yet she actively participated in disrupting the activities of this legislature. Such behavior must have consequences if we are to keep our processes in place, the process that serves all montanans and for that reason i must support the motion before us today and i urge you to do so as well, mr. Speaker. Minority leader and a bit. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Members i think most if you know i wish we were debating other things on this floor today and i wish the gallery was full of montanans engaging in the legislative process. I wish a lot of things. But thats not where we are. I disagreed with your decision not to recognize the representative and house seats 31 and you know that because we discussed it. I told you i thought there were other paths we could take. House bill 2080 being the clearest one it would have allowed for us to have debates on hard issues and maintain order. That is a tool that was available to us and i think its important we talk about how we got here and you didnt take that tool. Theres one person that had the ability to avoid being on this right now debating this motion and it wasnt the representative in seat 31. And now we are far beyond the rules that allow us to debate issues here. I agree with other speakers on my side of the aisle that we are in first principles, democratic principles, we are talking about constitutionally protected rights and the very nature of the Representative Democracy and ensuring the 11,000 people have proper representation. And today im standing up for those principles and democracy and im going to vote against this motion. But it shouldnt go without saying and i think its obvious to a lot of us that theres an opportunity cost to choosing this path. We dont have a state budget or plan for housing or plan for child care or permanent property tax relief, a plan for mental health, we dont have a plan for providers and today we are on the floor debating this motion and hopefully we can get back to work, i should hope so. But today in support of the constitutional principles and you know what, i agree that you absolutely can do this. By rule, by the constitution but it just because you can doesnt mean its the right choice. I think its the wrong choice. I hope we dont make it today but if we do we have to move on and see if we can get the work of montanans done. But today i have to show montanans we care about these principles first and we will deal with that business leader. Thank you mr. Speaker. Representative. Yes, mr. Speaker and members of the body i stand here in favor of the motion that is before us. The offense that occurred on april 204th by the representative of House District 100 is irrefutable. We all witnessed firsthand the violations that have already been articulated and we also witnessed throughout local and National Media there is a fundamental human principle that each of us are responsible for our actions, ourselves and we know the consequences of our behavior and our actions. Today i would like to focus more on the reasonableness of the motion. We are not wanting to ignore what happened or overreact. The disciplinary actions that are proposed from my perspective are reasonable and prudent and the measures proposed ensure the safety of the body and all who participate in the work of the house. With these articulated consequences lets clearly understand that the representative continues to serve her state. The representative will continue to have the opportunity to serve district 100, vote on all bills before the floor of the house and to complete the twoyear term. Its my opinion the discipline proposed is fair and reasonable given the circumstances. This motion allows the representative to serve constituents and provides an opportunity to reengage with a even entire body in the future. I am hopeful we will be able to complete our current discussion in the coming days with honor finishing well. Im also hopeful that the representative being disciplined will understand the significance of the action taken on april 204th and that future engagement with this body will resume. My desire is that this session and the sessions before us will have lively debates, respecting one another and continuing to serve montanans well. I urge your support for this motion. Would you care to close on your motion . Thank you, mr. Speaker, members. We have heard of the debate. We were all present and observed the conduct of the representative from House District 100 on april 204th. This conduct cannot be allowed to stand. Our constituents and our state deserve better. They deserve our full attention in this institution and body deserve the respect of all its members. However it has not been respected, and we must regain the decorum of this body not only now but also to set a precedent for the future. Therefore, good cause has been established and i urge the body to vote in favor of this motion. Thank you mr. Speaker. A two thirds vote all in favor of the majority leaders motion, those opposed, no. Clerk, record the vote. Absentee votes . Mr. Speaker, representative votes now. Clerk record the vote. 68 representatives voted yes, 32 voted no. The motion passes. The majority leader. Mr. Speaker i vote the house adjourn and reconvene at 8 a. M. All in favor, yes, the nose have it the house reconvenes cspans washington journal. Every day we take your calls live on the air. Coming up monday morning mom we will look at how the you as u. S. Has amassed trillion dollars of debt. And then dr. 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