After a decade of failed attempts, members of Montana’s American Indian Caucus were stunned when a bill establishing Indigenous Peoples Day as a legal state holiday flew through the Senate with bipartisan support, clearing the chamber last month.
The initial success of the legislation, which faced significant criticism last session, is indicative of a larger pattern. At this legislative session’s halfway point, members of the American Indian Caucus say they’re generally having more success this year when it comes to advancing their priority bills, the Montana Free Press reports.
The American Indian Caucus is an informal group of about a dozen Native American state lawmakers who work together to advance legislation they say is good for Indian Country, guided by the principle that what’s good for Indian Country is good for Montana as a whole.
In the Republican-dominated Legislature, the mostly Democratic caucus operates as a minority within a minority. The group, then, must earn bipartisan support to advance priority bills or kill legislation they say is harmful. Caucus leaders say they prioritize relationship-building and pride themselves on their ability to work across the aisle.
Though tribes are sovereign entities with a unique government-to-government relationship with the United States, state laws have tremendous influence on Indian Country. Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, said while some of her constituents have celebrated the caucus’ recent wins, many across Indian Country remain unengaged in state politics.
“We pay more attention to the federal government than we do the state government, but in reality, the federal government has been moving their trust responsibility over to the states,” she said in a recent interview.
Responding to criticism from last session, Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, revised the Indigenous Peoples Day legislation, this time allowing Montanans to celebrate both Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day. Morigeau also emphasized inclusivity in his remarks to lawmakers, saying the holiday is meant to celebrate all Montanans. Those changes in approach, he told MTFP, likely contributed to the bill’s advancement.
Senate Bill 311, to enhance lawmakers’ understanding of tribal issues, also cleared the Senate. It’s another one of Morigeau’s bills that failed last session and has made significant progress this year.
Bills brought by Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, that would extend the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act, improve accountability in the constitutionally mandated Indian Education for All laws and bolster the Montana Indian Language Preservation program have all advanced out of the Senate.
Windy Boy said that House Bill 2, which determines most of the state’s budget, includes an increased appropriation for tribal colleges and funding to support repatriation efforts, though that legislation remains under consideration. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, often called NAGPRA, is a federal law that created a process for tribes to request the return of Native remains and cultural items from institutions. Universities and other institutions in Montana have worked to return those items, but Windy Boy, who also serves as the tribal historic preservation officer for the Chippewa Cree Tribe, said institutions often lack the resources to do so in a timely manner. The proposed appropriation of about $360,000 would cover the salaries and operational costs for a team at the University of Montana working to do just that.
Brought by Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning and chair of the American Indian Caucus, House Bill 83 to enhance the Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force was the first of the caucus priority bills to become law, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte on Feb. 27. Another bill brought by Running Wolf, House Bill 545 to rename the task force the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Advisory Council and add a homicide investigator, has cleared the House. And Senate Bill 107, brought by Webber to provide human trafficking education in schools, advanced out of the Senate.
Montana’s American Indian Caucus notched another win when House Bill 216, allowing some landowners to hunt on the Flathead Reservation, failed. The legislation drew sharp criticism from tribes, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and other organizations that argued it violated treaty rights and threatened tribal sovereignty.
Running Wolf said he was happy to see a bill voted down that would’ve prohibited state support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs. He was also surprised to see the advancement of a bill continuing Montana’s Medicaid expansion. The GOP-sponsored legislation would remove the sunset date on Montana’s Medicaid expansion program, which covers health care costs for low-income adults ages 18 to 65. While Medicaid expansion was expected to be contentious this session, House Bill 245 sailed through the House and Senate and awaits Gianforte’s signature.
“That gives me hope,” Running Wolf said.
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Several caucus members said they attribute their initial success to the makeup of the Legislature this year. While Republicans held a supermajority last session, this year margins are slimmer. Republicans now have 32 of 50 seats in the Senate and 58 of 100 seats in the House.
Party infighting, caucus members said, has also contributed to some of their early achievements. Chaos has plagued the Senate, with former Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, and current Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, at the center of two scandals. After a dispute regarding committee assignments, a group of nine moderate Republican senators have been voting with Democrats on some issues, at times to the benefit of American Indian Caucus priorities.
Where in past years, caucus members may have had to be strategic on when to ask for moderate Republicans’ support, Webber said this year the relationship is different.
“Now, we just go up to them and say we need them,” she said. “And it goes both ways. We’re able to help get their bills across the finish line, too.”
Republican infighting, Running Wolf said, has meant that more lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been approaching caucus members for support.
While fissures within the Republican caucus have helped advance some American Indian Caucus priority bills, Morigeau said several harmful bills — like legislation aimed at altering the judiciary and expanding wolf hunting — remain in play. He and other caucus members argue legislation that would reduce the wolf population could interfere with state-tribal collaborative management efforts. Bills that politicize courts, he said, “erode their core function, to be blind and impartial.”
Running Wolf said the caucus is watching several bills it fears could harm Indian Country. He said House Bill 179 to revise election laws as they relate to inactive voters, House Bill 807 to prevent certain vaccine requirements, and House Bill 623 to revise nuclear energy laws, would have disparate, negative consequences for tribal communities.
With the Legislature set to reconvene in the coming days, Webber and other caucus members say they hope to see more engagement from Indian Country during the second half of the legislative session.
“People haven’t realized that they have a voice and that their voice is powerful,” she said. “They can really affect what’s happening in the state. We haven’t totally done that yet. … That’s why we go to Helena — to make sure that we are heard, that the tribal peoples are heard.”
