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For nearly two months, Montana Free Press has been one of several Montana media outlets involved in a lawsuit where we’re pushing to maintain long-standing public access to the Legislature’s bill drafting “junque files,” which contain a variety of correspondence between lawmakers, lobbyists and legislative bill drafters about proposals they’re preparing for introduction.
As we’ve written previously, those files were treated as public documents for decades — long enough that nobody can seem to remember where the “junque” title came from — before legislative attorneys reversed that policy last fall.
An initial victory for us in our case Jan. 21, though, cleared the way for the release this week of several junque files I had requested in October. (Full disclosure: Our attorneys called me to testify at a court hearing earlier this month.)
One of those files I received illustrates precisely why I believe the drafting materials should be readily accessible to the public.
The file involves a bill draft requested by Sen. Wendy McKamey, R-Great Falls. Until this week, all I knew about the potential legislation was its short title: “Provide property tax exemption for wireless infrastructure.” A heavily redacted version of the draft’s junque file released to me in October hid information that would have told us more — including the name of a lobbyist who, at McKamey’s request, was developing the bill with a staff drafter.
The release of the full file this week revealed the lobbyist is Mark Baker.
Baker, if you don’t happen to recognize his name, is one of the Montana Capitol’s most prolific lobbyists. He was part of a team that lobbied the administration of Gov. Greg Gianforte and a legislative advisory commission on behalf of Charter Communications during a 2021 and 2022 process that resulted in Charter being awarded $110 million in broadband grants from Montana’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act dollars. Disclosures on file with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices indicate Baker is currently representing at least 29 separate clients before the Legislature, including private prison operator CoreCivic, Airbnb, Exxon Mobil, Charter and wireless carrier AT&T.
Baker declined to comment on the bill draft this week, saying he needed authorization from AT&T.
The newly released file also includes draft language that provides specifics about what the potential bill could do. That text indicates the legislation would let wireless infrastructure like cell towers qualify for a 10-year property tax exemption the 2021 Legislature authorized for newly built wired broadband lines, a measure supporters said would encourage telecom companies to build out their Montana networks. The new bill would also strike a part of the 2021 law that prevents the original broadband tax break from applying to wired infrastructure built with money from the American Rescue Plan Act. Both changes would appear to lower tax bills for Baker’s clients.
A similar bill nearly passed the 2023 Legislature before being caught up in a late-session procedural dustup. A fiscal analysis of the 2023 bill estimated the tax break would apply to about $23 million a year in new wireless infrastructure, shifting the taxes its owners would have paid onto other taxpayers.
McKamey said in an interview Thursday that she hadn’t yet read the draft bill text or decided whether she’ll introduce it. She also said Baker had approached her about the bill concept.
“It was proposed to me as boosting broadband — and it does that,” McKamey said. “And that’s not a terrible thing when you think about it, especially when you live out in the country like I do.”
To be clear, this is all fairly run-of-the-mill legislative sausage-making. As legislation is developed, it’s common for Montana lawmakers to connect staff bill drafters with lobbyists, who often have topic-matter expertise. It’s also common for business interests to argue that the public would be well-served by offering them a tax exemption — and common for the merits of those arguments to be debated as bills move through the Legislature.
In this instance, however, that sausage-making happens to involve tens of millions of dollars of connectivity infrastructure, one of the Capitol’s super-lobbyists, the financial interests of at least one national telecom company and, potentially, your personal property tax bill. All that gristle — which seems to me to have obvious public interest — is only visible to the Montana public right now because we’ve gone to court to get our hands on the measure’s junque file.
Some of that information would eventually be disclosed elsewhere if McKamey chooses to introduce the bill, which would then be subject to a succession of public hearings and legislative debates as its backers push it toward the governor’s desk. As of this writing, though, the draft’s page on the Legislature’s official website includes a grand total of 40 words.
As reporters covering the Legislature, we have a variety of tools that we can use as we work to help you, our readers, understand what’s happening at the state Capitol — ranging from public proceedings to official databases to emails from helpful tipsters. Junque files, particularly when bills are being formed behind the scenes, are a vital part of that toolbox.
I’m grateful that, at least so far, the courts seem to agree.
—Eric Dietrich
Hot Potato 🥔
An executive order President Donald Trump issued late Monday seeking to halt the disbursement of federal loans or grants he described as advancing “Marxist equity, transgenderism, and Green New Deal social engineering policies” put Montana-based programs and projects in a state of anxious uncertainty.
Developments in the ensuing days — including a follow-up memo from the White House that appeared to rescind the executive order, and an order a federal judge issued temporarily blocking it from going into effect — provided a measure of detail on the order’s scope and legality, but questions about its influence on multi-billion dollar energy investments in Montana remain.
One company that appears to be, at least temporarily, caught in the crosshairs of Trump’s opposition to clean energy is Montana Renewables, a wholly owned subsidiary of an Indiana-based business that refines and manufactures various fuels and petroleum products. Montana Renewables had been counting on a $1.7 billion loan administered by the U.S. Department of Energy to expand biofuel production at its Great Falls-based refinery. On Tuesday the company notified investors that it was experiencing a “tactical delay to confirm alignment with White House Priorities.”
The plant expansion, which was expected to support 450 construction jobs and 40 long-term operational jobs, was funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, a 2022 bill widely viewed as the country’s largest-ever investment in climate change initiatives.
Last October, Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte touted Montana Renewables and the federally backed loan it was set to receive, describing the enterprise as “critical to helping us secure our energy future” and “an important step toward creating more good-paying jobs and boosting energy production in Montana.”
During a Thursday morning press conference, MTFP asked Gianforte whether Montana would continue to champion federal investments in Montana-based energy projects such as the Montana Renewables plant and a multi-billion transmission line planned for eastern Montana in the face of headwinds from the Trump administration.
Gianforte acknowledged that he didn’t have a lot of detail on the order but said he generally appreciated the intent.
“We’re going to work with our federal delegation and ensure that Montana interests are represented as we sort through this,” he said. “But I’m thankful the president’s finally tapping the brakes on federal spending.”
The temporary restraining order on the executive order remains in effect until Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. (Eastern time). A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for that morning in a Washington, D.C., district court.
—Amanda Eggert
The Gist 📌
As the legislative session progresses, lawmakers have voted to advance bills that would extend or wind down Medicaid expansion — the health insurance program for low-income adults between the ages of 18 and 65. Montana first decided to adopt expanded Medicaid a decade ago.
Some bills have failed to clear initial committee votes. But other competing policies inching along present sharply divergent views of the future of the program that insures more than 75,000 Montanans and helps health care providers stay afloat.
Here’s where the three most prominent bills stand:
- Senate Bill 62, sponsored by Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, passed out of the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee on a 6-5 vote, with all but one Republican voting in favor. The bill would prohibit new enrollees to the health program beginning Sept. 1, proposing an eventual phaseout as current beneficiaries slowly become ineligible.
- House Bill 230, sponsored by Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, was tabled by lawmakers on the House Human Services Committee after Republicans voted 12-9 over Democrats against the bill. The legislation would have tried to streamline communication between the state health department and Medicaid enrollees, reopen Offices of Public Assistance in rural areas and allow 12 months of continuous coverage for enrollees.
- House Bill 245, sponsored by Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, was passed by a bipartisan coalition of 14 lawmakers on the House Human Services Committee over seven dissenting Republicans. The bill would terminate the upcoming 2025 sunset provision for Medicaid expansion, continue with work requirements lawmakers approved in 2019 and create workforce development assessments for enrollees.
The bills that passed out of committee have not yet been heard on the House and Senate floors.
—Mara Silvers
Next Steps 👣
Montana’s Board of Public Education hit another snag last week in its consideration of a public charter school application aimed at addressing educational challenges on five Hutterite colonies in north-central Montana.
Despite widespread acknowledgment of the need to ensure public education opportunities for students in those communities, board members questioned whether the application proposing to solidify such opportunities fit the legal boundaries for new charter schools established by the 2023 Legislature.
A little background: In recent years, the regional colonies have struggled to maintain a collection of agreements with neighboring school districts to provide on-site public instruction by state-licensed teachers, prompting the colonies to increasingly operate their own private schools. Colony leaders, working with the Liberty Elementary School District, saw Montana’s new public charter school law as a path toward resolution and sought to create a network of linked colony-based classrooms with a mix of remote and on-site instruction, all under the banner of the Liberty Academy Charter. After the Board of Public Education denied their first application in early 2024, proponents resubmitted their proposal last fall for reconsideration.
The board rejected the application again last week, citing a lack of clarity on whether the public charter school law allows for schools based around a remote-instruction model. But members didn’t leave the issue there, convening Tuesday for a special meeting to discuss options for a path forward. With the 2025 Legislature now in full swing, Chair Tim Tharp noted the board’s move could be to recommend a legislative fix or to request a legal opinion from Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Opinions answer questions of law raised by state agencies and officials and carry the weight of law unless overturned by a court or the Legislature alters the statute.
The board ultimately agreed that turning to lawmakers was, as member Jane Lee Hamman put it, “the fastest and easiest thing to do,” and unanimously supported a motion to seek a policy resolution either through an amendment to an existing bill or standalone legislation. However, given the urgency of the issue and the 90-day window for a response from Knudsen, the board also directed staff to begin drafting a request to the AG’s office in case there’s no legislative movement. The Legislature is set to end May 3, if not earlier.
“I like it,” board member Ron Slinger said in support of the motion. “I think it’s being proactive, it’s doing due diligence, and it’s going down the right procedural lanes.”
—Alex Sakariassen
Highlights ☀️
In other news this week —
A new exempt well proposal is coming before the Legislature soon, and it’s expected to cause friction among stakeholders.
With an expected delay in the recertification timeline, lawmakers are looking at other ways to address the struggling Montana State Hospital.
A multi-million dollar federal loan for the Calumet biofuel project is on hold.
One of the major education bills this session — aimed at raising teacher pay — saw support at its first hearing in the Capitol this week.
On Our Radar 
Alex — With the policy debate around school choice and non-public educational opportunities kicking back into gear this legislative session, it was interesting to catch some reporting Friday morning from the Flathead Beacon on recent enrollment trends at St. Matthew’s, the Flathead Valley’s lone Catholic school — and apparently its fastest-growing.
Brad — The Australian Open, which wrapped up last weekend, was overstuffed with highlights, from Gael Monfils’ late-career run to the blindside emergence of Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien. But the spectacle of American veteran Madison Keys barrelling through the top two players in the world to win her first Grand Slam is the one that brought tears to my eyes. Yeah, I cry over tennis tournaments.
JoVonne — My older brother, a middle and high school choir and piano teacher, recently showed me a new music book he ordered for his students. “Weaving Sounds,” by Connor Chee and Renata Yazzie, is a book with piano pieces by Native and Indigenous composers. It also features one song written by Sonny-Ray Day Rider, who is part of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
Katie — Before tackling Brandon Sanderson’s “Wind and Truth,” one of the biggest fantasy book releases of the season (1,330 pages), I decided to reread the first four books in the Stormlight Archive series. Borrowing the audiobooks from my local library using the Libby app has been the only way I can make it through each 1,000-plus-page book in two weeks.
Tom — The first week of February ends with 10 hours of daylight, after which we’ll gain roughly three minutes a day for the rest of the month, enough light for some personal time on either side of the work day. But if you need stars, Taylor Planetarium at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman has weekend presentations of “From Earth to the Universe,” a scientific look at the solar system.
Zeke — I recently found an escape from life’s rougher edges in a small, virtual town called Stardew Valley. Located in a 2016 video game by the same name, players adopt a farming lifestyle and interact with a community of complex non-player characters in a picturesque village illustrated through elaborate pixel-art.
Mara — Continuing my trend from recent weeks, here’s another hot tip for your breakfast needs. Baked oatmeal! What a concept! Cut the final product up in squares to freeze and microwave at your leisure for a sweet, quick and hearty breakfast. As with many morning food items, it’s even better topped with fresh fruit and yogurt.
Eric — This week in answers to geography questions I didn’t know I had, Reddit’s AskHistorians forum taught me, via an archival post, why so many countries have “Guinea” as part of their names.
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