Latest news with #SherryEssmann
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Agricultural exemption, review bill fails on House floor
An irrigation system is shown near Sheridan, MT, in 2019. (USDA Photo by Lance Cheung) A bill seeking to change automatic classification of large tracts of land as agricultural land failed in the House on Thursday afternoon. House Bill 27, brought by Rep. Sherry Essmann, R-Billings, would have introduced an application process for agricultural classification and a review process for properties already considered agricultural land. The bill targeted properties that claim an agricultural exemption, but aren't actually being used for raising livestock or crops. Currently, agricultural exemptions are automatically granted for properties more than 160 acres. Properties that are less than 160 acres have to apply to the Montana Department of Revenue to receive an agricultural designation. Properties not qualifying for the agricultural exemption would instead be switched to Tax Class Four, which is residential. The bill would have introduced 'sustenance use land' and 'nonproductive forest land' as new tax classifications. The Department of Revenue supported the bill after an off-session working group tried to address the issue following a similar bill that failed during the 2023 session. 'What became crystal clear to the working group was that the current statute of ag classification eligibility is providing preferential classification value to properties that are not engaged in quantified ag use,' Essmann said on the floor Thursday. 'Montana's land is a right, but our ranchers, our farmers and our communities depend on it. But for too long, we've seen speculators buying thousands of acres and take them out of production and turn them into their personal playgrounds.' Properties 640 acres and less would need to show they produced $1,500 or more in income from agricultural use to qualify for the agriculture exemption. Tracts of land receiving the exemption would have to show an additional $6 for every acre over 640. So, if a property was 650 acres, it would have needed to show an income of $1,560. The bill received opposition on the floor and debate only ended with a cloture vote, a procedural move to stop debate. Opponents said it would hurt small farmers, as well as operators of commercial operations like corn mazes, pumpkin patches and dude ranches. All three of those uses, along with agrotourism operations, were not eligible to be considered agricultural land under the bill. Rep. Caleb Hinkle, R-Belgrade, spoke against the bill on the floor Thursday, saying it 'threatens to undermine the very backbone of our state.' He said it would 'punish' small property owners and 'strangle' family farms. 'This bill, if passed, claims to target the fraud agriculture,' Rep. Jed Hinkle, R-Belgrade said on the floor, 'But instead captures good, well-meaning Montanans whose dream was to own some property, raise their livestock, or plant their gardens, orchards and actually be able to afford living and owning the land.' The bill failed 60-40 on the floor.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans Break Ranks to Strike Down Anti-Trans Legislation in Montana
Republicans broke ranks with President Donald Trump and his anti-trans crusade to join Democrats in tanking two extreme bills in Montana. 'Trust the parents to do what's right and stop these crazy bills that are a waste of time,' GOP Rep. Sherry Essmann urged her party on the House floor before the vote on a bill that sought to ban drag shows and pride parades. 'We should be working on property tax relief and not doing this sort of business on the floor of this house and having to even talk about this,' Essmann said. Her call to ditch the relentless anti-trans fear-mongering sharply contrasts with Trump's recent slew of executive orders and statements attacking transgender people's rights. He has made attacking drag a personal mission—even hijacking the bipartisan Kennedy Center in order to ban drag performances. But the sponsor of the bill, Republican State Rep. Caleb Hinkle, who called being transgender a 'fetish,' couldn't rally enough support within his own party. Thirteen Republicans flipped to the Democrats to defeat the bill 55 to 44, signaling frustration among some Republicans with their party's anti-trans agenda. Even more Republicans flipped sides to kill a bill that sought to remove transgender children from their parents. It was defeated 71 to 27. The Republican-controlled House may have been persuaded by two Democratic transgender representatives, SJ Howell and Zooey Zephyr, who gave impassioned speeches condemning the bills. 'Put yourself in the shoes of a [child protective service] worker who is confronted with a young person… living in a stable home with loving parents, who is supported and has their needs met. And they are supposed to remove that child from their home and put them in the care of the state?" Howell asked her fellow lawmakers. A total of 696 bills targeting transgender people are currently being considered across 49 states, and 18 bills have been passed, according to a Trans Legislation Tracker.
