Legislature
We provide our members with the tools and opportunities to make their voices heard on important issues facing Montana. During legislative sessions, Northern Plains maintains a full-time citizen lobby in Helena.
Legislative Priorities
Northern Plains members make decisions about what issues most impact their communities and how to address them. In preparation for the 2019 Montana Legislature, our member-leaders voted to prioritize Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) and Commercial Property-Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE). Both policies would put money back into the pockets of local Montanans and support a more prosperous future for the Treasure State.
After passing out of the Senate with overwhelming support, C-PACE (SB 245) was tabled in the House Taxation Committee due to the chair’s desire to meet his personal “tabling quota” this session.
Despite the hard-fought efforts of our members, allies, and legislators on both sides of the aisle, COOL (HB 594) met a similar fate this session. While we were unable to revive COOL after it was tabled in the House Ag Committee, we are much better positioned to pass COOL in 2021. In the interim, our Ag Task Force will be continuing their work around country-of-origin-labeling.
Legislative Bulletins
One of the reasons Northern Plains members have been successful in protecting our quality of life in Montana is by staying informed. During Montana’s biennial legislative sessions, our members receive a Legislative Bulletin in the mail every two weeks and a digital version (Legislative e-Bulletin) every week to keep them updated on what’s happening at the Legislature. Click on the links below to access our latest Legislative Bulletin.
- WEEKS 1 & 2 – Legislative Bulletin: Making our voices heard in support of clean energy
- WEEKS 3 & 4 – Legislative Bulletin: Lawmakers defend Montana from Keystone XL
- WEEKS 5 & 6 – Legislative Bulletin: A COOL wave hit Helena this week
- WEEKS 7 & 8 – Legislative Bulletin: Halfway to the finish line
- WEEKS 9 & 10 – Legislative Bulletin: C-PACE has its day in the sun
- WEEKS 11 & 12 – Legislative Bulletin: Senate picks up the PACE
- WEEKS 13 & 14 -_Legislative Bulletin: Coal over community
Legislative Scorecards
At the end of each legislative session, we produce a summary of how our legislators voted on the issues our members care about. Click on the links below to view legislative scorecards from 2009-2017.
Resources
Knowing where legislation stands and who your legislators are is crucial when organizing around important issues, but finding and understanding that information isn’t always intuitive. To make it easier, we’ve included some helpful links below: