Montana Constitution

It's time to debate changes to Montana's Constitution. Lawmakers look at ways to address the state's affordable housing crisis and make rules about what local governments should and shouldn't be able to do to address climate change.

Republican lawmakers in Montana wield a supermajority that gives them the power to ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment that would break the link between abortion rights and the right to privacy in the state’s constitution. But so far, they haven’t sought to ask voters to make the change.

State agencies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending laws passed by the 2021 Legislature in court. Gov. Greg Gianforte wants an additional $2.6 million to bolster the Montana Department of Justice’s legal defense.

A Republican lawmaker is seeking to add a caveat to the state’s constitutional right to privacy. The language would say that the right does not protect access to abortion.

House Bill 702 had barred employers from mandating vaccines or requiring employees share their vaccine status. U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that it was unconstitutional and conflicted with federal law.

The amendment adds “electronic data and communications” to the list of things protected by the state Constitution from unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement.

Republicans are two seats away from holding supermajorities in both chambers of the Montana Legislature. That could have big implications for the 2023 legislative session.

Montana voters will see two statewide issues on the ballot this fall, including one that seeks to boost legal protections for electronic data.

Doctors in states where abortion is or could be banned say more patients are seeking permanent sterilization procedures, but some patients say providers are unwilling to operate on people of childbearing age.