HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s governor on Thursday signed a bill that codifies the right of people to challenge government regulations that interfere with their religious beliefs.
The legislation, by Republican Sen. Carl Glimm, requires the government to have a compelling reason to violate a person’s constitutional right to freedom of religion and to meet its goals in the least restrictive way possible.
“Citizens should not be left defenseless when their government attempts to burden their ability to live and worship according to their faith. This law provides a sensible balancing test for courts to use when reviewing government policies that infringe upon the religious freedom rights of Montanans,” the Alliance Defending Freedom said in a statement.
Supporters have said such laws have been used to defend a Native American charged with illegally possessing eagle feathers, when they had them for religious purposes, and to uphold a student’s right to mention their faith in God during a graduation speech.
Opponents fear the law will allow businesses to challenge ordinances in cities that have local ordinances prohibiting discrimination in housing or employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
“This (law) allows individuals to turn the shield of religious freedom we all hold dear into a weapon to attack LGBTQ and Indigenous Montanans,” said Shawn Reagor, director of Equality and Economic Justice with the Montana Human Rights Network. “It goes against the live-and-let-live values we hold as a state, recent court rulings, and the ordinances of five Montana cities and counties.”
Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras told the House Judiciary Committee in March that Gov. Greg Gianforte supported the bill and “emphasizes this is not a license to discriminate against the LGBT.”
Montana joins 21 states with their own religious freedom restoration acts. The laws are similar to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed in 1993 by Democratic President Bill Clinton, which allows federal regulations that interfere with religious beliefs to be challenged.
Montana transgender bill advances, other measures vetoed
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Legislature voted Thursday to advance a bill that would ban transgender athletes from participating in school and university sports according to the gender with which they identify.
The governors of North Dakota and Kansas vetoed similar measures this week.
The Montana House and Senate approved the bill largely along party lines, after it was amended to become void if the federal government withholds education funding from the state over gender discrimination and an appeal by the state fails.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office banning discrimination based on gender, raising concern among officials in the Montana university system that $350 million in education funding — mostly for student loans and grants — could be on the line if the measure is signed into law.
In the state House, the amended bill passed 60-39. In the Senate, it was advanced with a 27-23 vote, after several Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in voting against it.
The House and Senate must vote one more time before it can go to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has not said if he would sign the measure into law.
Supporters of the bill say it will ensure the playing field in girls’ sports remains fair. However, a review by The Associated Press found that in more than 20 states where such bills were proposed this year, most bill sponsors could not cite a single instance in their own state or region where such participation has caused problems.
North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum vetoed similar legislation Wednesday, saying that fairness in girls’ sports is not in danger. In Kansas, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a similar bill Thursday after calling it “regressive.”
“We should probably follow suit, and have a little more respect for our friends and neighbors,” Montana Sen. Ryan Lynch, a Democrat, said Thursday.
Opponents of the measure say it further harms already marginalized transgender youth. They have also raised concern over statements by the NCAA indicating the organization could revoke the opportunity to host championship events in states where such laws have been enacted, including popular football events in Montana’s two largest universities.
Sen. Keith Regier, a Republican who carried the legislation in the Montana Senate, dismissed the concern, saying, “It’s an old argument from back when Idaho was the only state to have this law.”
Three Republican-controlled states have signed similar measures into law this year – Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Idaho’s law was blocked by a court ruling last year.
Montana extends programs to address tribes’ missing persons
HELENA, Mont. — Gov. Greg Gianforte signed this week several bills meant to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana, extending programs established in 2019.
Native Americans make up only around 7 percent of Montana’s population but a quarter of reported missing person cases. And Native Americans are over four times more likely to be victims of homicide than white people in Montana, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gianforte, a Republican, was joined Thursday in a bill signing ceremony by the Native American lawmakers who sponsored the measures. Two bills will extend a legislative task force and grant program with the goal of helping tribes identify and report missing people. Another measure will create a review commission under the state Department of Justice to recommend policies and improve collaboration between law enforcement agencies to address unsolved missing person cases.
“It’s not only an American Indian problem across the state of Montana. It is a problem for all Montanans,” said Democratic Rep. Sharon Stewart Peregoy.
A Republican-controlled committee voted down last week an additional bill sponsored by Stewart Peregoy which would have created a grant to pay for training of law enforcement teams to respond to reported missing Native Americans in the state.
Opponents of the measure said the training can be funded through an existing federal program.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department announced it was advancing its initiative to create community response plans aimed at enhancing collaboration between law enforcement agencies in Native American communities.
