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April 10, 2025
A bipartisan coalition of Senate moderates on April 8 gained more control over the final 19 possible days of the legislative session. In a deal amending the Senate’s rules, which was brokered with Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, moderates secured rare powers for Democratic Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade.
The move means Flowers gets pre-approval of conference committees, which are created by the Senate President, Matt Regier, R-Kalispell.
Conference committees are used to reconcile differences between House and Senate bills on the same subject. They can be a powerful tool for leaders of the House and Senate because bills reconciled in conference committees can’t later be amended on the floor of the House or Senate, creating take-it-or-leave-it choices for lawmakers.
There are also free conference committees, which are allowed to make sweeping changes to bills so long as those changes are within the scope of the bill’s title. And titles can be vague — think of this year’s House Bill 530 to “Generally revise business laws,” or House Bill 924 to “Generally revise state finance laws.” Contents of bills that have previously died in session have been known to find a second life in free-conferenced bills.
The rule empowering the minority leader states that “the president of the Senate shall appoint all conference committees, with the advance concurrence of the majority leader and minority leader.” Previous versions of the terms limited the majority and minority leaders to an advisory role.
The Senate approved the terms on April 8 on a 37-13 vote, with Regier voting no.
“We’ve got enough work right now that I think this was the path to get across the finish line,” Sen. Laura Smith, D-Helena, told Capitolized. Smith is part of the Democratic minority in the Senate, all of whom are part of the moderate coalition.
Additionally, moderates voting on the Senate floor replaced three conservative members on the Committee on Committees, which appoints senators to standing committees, joint committees and interim committees.
Two new members of the Committee on Committees — Sens. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, and Gayle Lammers, R-Hardin — belong to “The Nine,” a group of GOP lawmakers who have collaborated with the Democratic minority to pass several bills opposed by conservatives but prioritized by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte. The chamber’s longest-serving member, Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber, also known as the “Dean of the Senate,” assumed the third seat.
Sens. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork, Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, and Vince Ricci, R-Laurel, were removed.
Representatives of the coalition of moderates and McGillvray “were working to find a middle path to get us through the rest of the session in a healthy way. So, the options, I mean, frankly, were sort of blowing up the Senate versus trying to find a middle path that was agreeable,” Smith said of the change to the committee’s membership.
The Senate erupted on the first day of the Legislature when nine Republicans and all 18 Democrats voted to give new committee assignments to eight lawmakers — five Republicans and three Democrats — who had been placed on a single committee to address issues of the executive branch. They said the executive branch committee had no real purpose, describing it as a parking spot to keep them from meaningful work. Most of the Republicans assigned to the committee had won heated primary elections or had taken moderate positions, such as on abortion.
—Tom Lutey
The Nine’s very big plus-one
Before the state GOP executive committee rescinded recognition of nine Senate Republicans for not kowtowing to Senate leadership, they asked to meet with Sen. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton.
Kassmier, one of the nine, asked the committee to submit questions.
What followed, according to documents leaked to Capitolized, was a March 21 text message from MTGOP Executive Director Tyler Newcombe to Kassmier in which Newcombe’s questions centered on current Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, the 2023 Senate president who was recently censured for failing to disclose a conflict of interest with a business associate awarded a large state contract Ellsworth arranged.
There are no questions to Kassmier about whether the nine senators are representing the values or interests of Montana Republicans. The letter rescinding recognition of The Nine states that the executive committee has determined the senators no longer do, and that the lawmakers will not be supported financially or endorsed by MTGOP.
Kassmier responded with a letter to Don Kaltschmidt, MTGOP chair, in which the senator suggested the real issue is the nine Republicans’ support for the policies of Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte.
Kassmier isn’t the only member of the Senate saying the quiet part out loud. At the end of a heated April 3 debate about a pension bill sponsored by Sen. Wendy McKamey, R-Great Falls, and supported by the executive branch, Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, said:
“I just want to thank the [Senate Democratic] minority of this body for supporting our great governor today. I know that the governor definitely appreciates your support, and I’m sure that he will enjoy your continued support. Thank you.”
Most Republicans voted against the bill. The governor’s proposals for cutting both property taxes and income taxes were also recently voted down by Republicans in the Senate Taxation Committee. Kassmier, in his letter to Kaltschmidt, supported Gianforte’s tax plans over alternatives supported by Regier.
In other words, “The Nine” are taking MTGOP heat for supporting the party’s top officeholder.
—Tom Lutey
