Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
Evidence that the 2015 legislative session will be contentious mounts daily, and Flathead area legislators continue requesting bills.
Yesterday, the GOP caucus agreed on a House rule that will exclude the public from the House floor 24 hours a day, every day. Montana Cowgirl has the story. At least in theory, this will allow the GOP to caucus on the floor of the House without being overheard, producing the functional equivalent of secrecy. Policy decisions will be made within the caucus, where the public cannot hear what is said, then rubber-stamped during formal sessions.
I can easily imagine a scenario at the end of the session in which the legislature adjourns without adopting a budget, and Republican legislators board buses to Lethbridge, Alberta, beyond the reach of the sergeant at arms, where they thumb their noses at Governor Bullock and the voters while they wait for Montana to run out of money.
The formal short title of the requested bill is “Prohibit establishment of discriminatory organizations.” Garner (R-Kalispell) made the request on 20 November. Keeping this bill constitutional will be tricky, and might be impossible.
The LC number is LC0940, and the status is “Draft on hold.” Lavin (R-Kalispell) introduced a similar bill in the 2013 session. It died in standing committee.
Lavin should consider withdrawing his request for this bill. Yesterday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Florida law from 2011 that required all welfare applicants to undergo drug tests.
“The state has not demonstrated a more prevalent, unique or different drug problem among TANF applicants than in the general population,” the panel said in its unanimous decision, using an acronym for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Eleven states have passed laws to mandate drug testing since 2011, but most of those differ from Florida’s because they require testing only if drug use is suspected. After the Florida Legislature approved its law, Georgia followed suit. A similar measure was ruled unconstitutional in 2003 by a Michigan Court of Appeals.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sued the state on behalf of a welfare applicant, Luis Lebron, a Navy veteran and single father, shortly after the law took effect in 2011. A federal judge ruled it unconstitutional in 2013, but Florida appealed.
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From July through October 2011 — the four months when testing took place in Florida before a federal injunction — 2.6 percent of the state’s applicants for cash assistance, or 108 of 4,086, failed the drug test, according to figures from the state obtained by the group. The most common reason was marijuana use. Another 40 applicants did not go through with the testing.
Because the Florida law required that applicants who passed the test be reimbursed for the cost, an average of $30, the cost to the state was $118,140. This was more than would have been paid in benefits to the people who failed the test.