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Moore on Montana |
At the signing of the Big Ugly Bill, Speaker Johnson gave Trump the gavel he used to mark passage of this disastrous legislation. Seems symbolic of the Congressional Republicans’ complete capitulation. |
Hide and not seek
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Republican Wendy McKamey represents Senate District 12 in Cascade County. This editorial ran in the May 15, 2025 edition of the Cascade Courier. On May 16 Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bills discussed above into law.
OP-ED — Montanans are being crushed under the weight of skyrocketing property taxes. Longtime residents are watching their tax bill soar as wealthy out-of-staters scoop up land and inflate home values across Montana. Families, seniors, and working people across the state are pleading for relief.
This session a group of Montanans – Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals – came together to deliver meaningful property tax relief. Unfortunately, a group of Montana lawmakers stood in the way and are now actively campaigning to get Governor Gianforte to veto meaningful property tax reform for you. That group is the Montana “Freedom Caucus.”
You deserve to know their names. Barry Usher, Nelly Nicol, Jerry Schillinger, Theresa Manzella, Carl Glimm, and Bob Phalen all fought to prevent you from receiving a property tax cut. These legislators – all members of the “Freedom Caucus” – voted against cutting your property taxes from 1.35% to 0.76% on your primary residence. Instead, they wanted to offer you a token $240 rebate and call it good enough.
It’s not just them. Jeremy Trebas, Daniel Emrich, Ken Bogner, and Daniel Zolnikov all seem to want you to pay high property taxes. Jeremy Trebas wants to serve on the PSC. If he won’t protect you from high property taxes today, how can you expect him to protect you from high utility costs tomorrow?
Instead of fighting for Montana residents, these lawmakers chose to protect the pockets of wealthy nonresidents who own second homes in exclusive enclaves like the Yellowstone Club and the shores of Whitefish Lake. Every one of these legislators voted against bills that would cut tax rates on your primary residence – just so wealthy nonresidents don’t have to pay more.
That’s not conservatism. That’s not freedom. That’s protecting the elite at the expense of everyday Montanans.
It should be no surprise these legislators don’t want to cut your taxes. When it comes to protecting the taxpayer, these legislators are missing in action. All are supporters of President Matt Regier. Matt Regier wants to spend more money, grow government, rather than save you money. Matt Regier tried to get the part-time Legislature to build a $160 million dollar office building, and he has spent large sums on high-priced lawyers, new office furniture, and a fancy electronics suite.
Montana’s property tax system is broken. We need reform and Matt Regier, the “Freedom Caucus,” and Jeremy Trebas, Daniel Emrich, Ken Bogner, and Daniel Zolnikov said, “NO!”
The next time those legislators campaign on “low taxes” and “standing up for Montana,” remember they didn’t want to cut your property taxes. They wanted to stick it to you and force you to pay the same exorbitant tax rates you are paying today. When it mattered most, they stood with wealthy outsiders and fought against real property tax relief for you. Whereas I will continually consider Montanans first.
Right now, Medicaid—the public health insurance program that covers over 212,000 Montanans—is under serious threat. Across the country, federal lawmakers are proposing $880 billion in Medicaid cuts. These cuts won’t just hit some abstract system or federal balance sheet—they will fall directly on working families, seniors, veterans, and kids right here in Montana.
And unfortunately, our state’s Republican leadership isn’t fighting to protect us. Instead, they’re doing what politicians so often do: playing both sides while quietly hoping someone else takes the fall.
Earlier this year, the Montana Legislature passed a bill carried by Great Falls Republican, Ed Buttrey, to extend the current sunset provision for Medicaid. If you just skim the headlines, that might sound like a win. But if you’ve been paying attention to the budget language and political signals, it’s anything but.
What’s really happening is this: Montana Republicans are counting on the federal government to cut Medicaid funding. They extended Medicaid on paper, but they’re banking on D.C. to gut the program so that they don’t have to vote for those cuts themselves.
It’s a political sleight of hand letting Washington do the dirty work. Then, when Montanans lose coverage, they’ll throw up their hands and say, “Well, we tried. Blame Congress.” Don’t buy it. The reality is, if the federal match for Medicaid disappears, so does the coverage for thousands of Montanans. And the Montana Legislature has no plan to fill that gap. None.
Medicaid is not a handout. It’s not charity. It’s a vital part of how we take care of our neighbors and ourselves when life gets hard. It’s how we ensure:
In Montana, 71% of adults on Medicaid are working. They are cleaning our schools, and hospitals, providing day care, stocking our shelves, cooking our food, taking care of our grandparents and parents.
Montana Republicans love to talk about personal responsibility and rural values. But there’s nothing responsible about cutting healthcare for working people. There’s nothing “pro-life” about making it harder for pregnant women to access care. And there’s nothing conservative about forcing our small-town hospitals to close due to budget shortfalls.
If you want to talk about work ethic, let’s talk about the thousands of Montanans who work full-time but still don’t earn enough to afford private insurance.
If you want to talk about values, let’s talk about how much it says about a society when it leaves its most vulnerable behind.
Montanans deserve better than backdoor politics and budget games.
We deserve leaders who understand that healthcare isn’t a luxury—it’s a right. We deserve legislators who will fight for the people who put them in office, not just the ones who bankroll their campaigns. And we deserve to be told the truth—not manipulated with headlines and hollow promises.
Because the consequences are very real.
If the federal match goes away and our state leaders refuse to step up, coverage will disappear.
Medicaid is a lifeline for one in five Montanans. It’s woven into the fabric of our communities. Cutting it isn’t just bad politics; it’s a betrayal of everything we claim to stand for.
Montana Republicans are betting that we won’t notice. That we won’t care. That we’ll accept the spin.
Let’s prove them wrong.
Let’s remind them that in Montana, we take care of our own.
Remind them that we are watching. That we vote. That we expect better from those who claim to represent us.
Jeannie Hansen is a third-generation Montanan. Along with her advocacy work, she currently ranches east of Great Falls. She is lifelong advocate with a passion for justice, dignity, and community care. Raised in Great Falls, she found her voice early—championing seniors, working families, and underserved populations since her school days. With over 15 years in social work and nonprofits, Jeannie has built a career rooted in public service, legislative advocacy, and hands-on support for those navigating complex systems like Medicaid. Her work has taken her from the halls of the Capitol to the dirt roads of rural Montana, always guided by a fierce commitment to fairness and a deep love for her home state.
This editorial is based on comments Jeannie Hansen made at a Medicare Rally organized by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Great Falls on April 29th, 2025.
WTF406 is presenting both sides of the CI-126/CI-127 ballot initiatives to help our readers make a decision this election.
CI-126 will change primary elections so that all qualified candidates of all parties would appear on one single ballot in June and all voters will have the freedom to choose between them. The top four candidates would then move on to the November election, where voters would choose between them.
Voters in Montana are currently forced to choose one party’s ballot to vote in primary elections – even though they might prefer candidates from different parties for different offices. CI-126 changes that so you can vote for the candidate you like best, regardless of party.
CI-126 is a simple, common-sense change that protects our democracy and gives us more responsive and representative government. We encourage every Montana voter to vote YES on CI-126 so we have better choices, more voice, and greater accountability in our elections.
CI-127 requires candidates to receive a majority vote to win a General election instead of electing candidates who simply win the largest number of votes, as is current law. This measure would ensure that candidates have to appeal to a majority of their constituents by earning the support of over 50% of voters.
Majority-winner elections lead to more responsive leaders who are more representative of the majority of Montanans. There are two mechanisms for deciding a majority winner if one candidate does not receive more than 50% of the vote: a traditional runoff election or an instant runoff election.
Majority-winner elections empower voters to hold politicians accountable and force our elected officials to focus on finding solutions that benefit a majority of citizens. We encourage voters to choose majority-winner elections and vote YES on CI-127.
-Kendra Miller and Lauren Caldwell
