Legislative session ends with varied success for local lawmakers

Yahoo

2 days ago

Jun. 8—Despite public fissures among the state GOP, multiple investigations into lawmakers' financial practices and a slew of bitter political debates, lawmakers from Northwest Montana are marking the 2025 Legislative session as a success.
"It was not easy. It was not fun, but that's how it was," said Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka.
While he gave the 2025 session less favorable marks for "the process," Cuffe said he felt "the good probably outweighs the bad." Among the positives, he said, was lawmakers' productivity.
Legislators introduced a record number of bills, totaling 1,759 by the end of April. Excluding bills to confirm governor-appointed positions, lawmakers from Northwest Montana introduced 269 pieces of legislation during the 2025 session.
While all 12 of the bills that Cuffe introduced became law, other local lawmakers struggled to shepherd their proposals through the often-complicated maze of legislative hearings and floor votes.
Rep. Lukas Schubert, R-Kalispell, introduced 34 bills, three times more than his average counterpart. But most of the freshman lawmaker's ideas floundered early on in the legislative process. Only half of Schubert's bills passed their first committee hearing, and a mere four were signed into law, making Schubert's success rating less than 12%.
Reps. Terry Falk, R-Kalispell, Tracy Sharp, R-Polson, and Debo Powers, D-Whitefish, also had little to show for their efforts this session. All three ended the session with a 20% success rate. Powers and Sharp each introduced five bills and succeeded in passing one bill whereas Falk managed to pass two of his 10 introduced bills.
Other lawmakers that fell behind the curve included Sen. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork, with a success rate of 27%; Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, with a success rate of 29%; and Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, with a success rate of 33%.
By comparison, both Cuffe and Rep. Lyn Bennett, R-Columbia Falls, concluded the session with a 100% success rate. Bennett only introduced two bills, far fewer than any other local lawmaker.
Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, had an 86% success rate. Reps. Courtenay Sprunger, R-Kalispell, and Amy Regier, R-Kalispell, were also top-performers, with respective success rates of 80% and 71%.
Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, passed more legislation than any other area lawmaker. Of the 56 bills he introduced, 33 made it through the legislative process.
Other high-volume lawmakers included Mitchell with 19 bills passed; Sprunger with 12 bills passed; and Amy Regier with 10 bills passed.
NOT ALL bills are created equal. Powers, for example, concluded the session with a singular successful bill. But the measure, which expands state loan assistance eligibility for public school teachers, supported a high-profile campaign to enhance financial support for teachers.
Sprunger also contributed to the final suite of educational reform bills with the "Right Back Act," which reforms the state funding stream for public schools to reduce local levies and provide property tax relief.
And some legislation could still be weeded out during the upcoming "lawsuit season." Two bills introduced by Cuffe that reform voter registration laws are involved in litigation. Similar election reforms sponsored by Mitchell are also likely to face judicial challenges, as are a suite of bills introduced by Mitchell, Glimm and Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, that pull back protections for the LGBTQ+ community.
In total, about 12% of the bills introduced by local lawmakers proposed changes to the election process. Judicial reform and health services were also hot topics, but the most common theme, by far, was taxation. Nearly one in every five bills introduced by area lawmakers addressed taxes, mostly through relatively small changes to the tax rate for goods like ammunition.
INTRODUCING LEGISLATION is just one of lawmakers' many job duties, as Cuffe pointed out in his summation of the 2025 session.
"I have always felt that the more important work a person does is in killing bad bills," he said.
Cuffe pointed toward his voting record on judicial reform bills as an example. Several lawmakers proposed legislation making the state judicial system more partisan, but few of the reforms ended up passing both houses. For Cuffe, who said he believes courts should remain nonpartisan, the failure of that legislative effort was actually a success.
He also noted that, while he did not introduce legislation directly related to issues like timber and water quality, he served as the vice-chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
"I didn't carry legislation on those things, but I was very much in the middle of that," he said.
Ultimately, Cuffe, who has come up against term limits, said his eighth session was a good one to go out on. He said he will remain active in other political arenas, such as the International Joint Commission.
"For me, yes. I think it was a successful session," said Cuffe. "We did a great job. I did a great job."
Reporter Hailey Smalley may be reached at 758-4433 or [e-mail].