As of mid-day Friday, 1,297
bills have been introduced and at least 197 have been signed into law. This week we’re watching a mounting dispute over separation of powers between the Legislature and the Montana Supreme Court. We’re also watching the debate on a bill that would incentivize the state’s largest utility to buy more of the Colstrip coal-fired power plant.
The biggest story over the last week is the escalating conflict between the legislative and judicial branches. The whirlwind started with a new law that gives the
governor more power to appoint judges to vacancies when judicial positions end up vacant between election cycles. Instead of having the governor pick from a list of finalists forwarded by the
Chair Greg Hertz, a Republican senator from Polson, read questions into the record on Monday as the Select Committee on Judicial Transparency and Accountability got underway on its investigation into alleged misuse of state email accounts in the judicial branch, but no one was there to answer back.
The committee formed last week issued a subpoena for Montana Supreme Court Administrator Beth McLaughlin to appear at 9 a.m. Monday morning to answer questions about internal polling on pending legislation uncovered in a recent court challenge to a new law. Republicans have raised several concerns since finding out that McLaughlin deleted the results of that internal polling.
The Session Week 16: Separation Of Powers And The Future Of Colstrip mtpr.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mtpr.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MT Supreme Court blocks legislative subpoenas seeking its records
Chief Justice McGrath also writes to GOP leaders
Mike Dennison-MTN News
and last updated 2021-04-16 19:23:00-04
HELENA â The Montana Supreme Court Friday blocked all subpoenas issued by the state Legislature in the past week, that are seeking internal documents from the court, and said it will rule later on whether the requests are valid.
The unanimous order puts the brakes on an escalating face-off between the high court and Republican leadership at the Legislature, as GOP leaders sought emails and other documents from the court and the judiciary to investigate whether the court has pre-judged legislation that may come before it.
HELENA, Mont. - The Montana Supreme Court is under investigation by state lawmakers.
After Governor Greg Gianforte signed SB 140 into law, allowing him to appoint judges to the district courts and state Supreme Court instead of going through a judicial nominating commission. Those judges would still have to be confirmed through the State Senate, but that is not the biggest issue at hand.
The investigation revealed Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike McGrath told the governor he was against this bill. Gov. Gianforte signed it anyway and almost immediately; this bill was challenged in the Supreme Court. McGrath recused himself from hearing this challenge because he had already made his opinion known.