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In the fabric of Montana's history, woven through the life stories of our people, is a simple yet profound wisdom: "Don't be a sheep". This is the legacy of my Basque heritage, a creed passed down from my father, who turned the rugged terrains of eastern Montana into a home for our family. It's this same spirit that now compels me to seek a seat on the Montana Supreme Court. I want to ensure that our judiciary reflects the strength, independence, and integrity of the state we all love. My story...
There's always something special about the early days of a new year. Optimism. Opportunity for change and making things better. It's how I felt growing up in Montana at the beginning of a new sports season. Whatever disappointments or mistakes might have happened the previous season, a new season was like starting a new chapter, where hard work, dedication, and teamwork can make anything possible. 2023 is like the previous season and much needs to be done to make things better. In 2023, our...
Dear Santa, 11/23/23 What have you been up to this year? How is Mrs. Claus? A couple of things I want for Christmas are a little two cushion couch for a reading corner, the biggest Hydro Flash water bottle, a new red and black mountain bike, and a blue pair of non-wireless JBL headphones. I deserve these things for three reasons. First, I am helpful by helping my mom a little bit by washing dishes for her sometimes. Second, I am kind to my friends because I play games with them. Lastly, I am...
We appreciate you making the effort to come to our fundraising event on Sept. 16 for Martha’s Place, the future residential hospice house. We had an amazing turnout, and we managed to bring in a little over $10,000 between ticket sales, silent auction, and donations! Your attendance and support have played an important role in our event’s success—thank you. With your contribution, we will be able to continue working toward remodeling the old Fischer House, now officially called Martha’s Place, in Richland County. We have been able to install...
With the Dobbs opinion from the US Supreme Court the abortion debate has been returned to the individual states. While there are many different viewpoints on abortion, one view is held by a supermajority of the public, that abortion should not be wide-open up until or after birth. (news.gallup.com July 7,2023) Throughout the 2023 Legislative session, your Montana House Republicans used common sense and biologically sound principles to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us, unborn babies. Building on the historic progress from the 20...
This last election cycle many Republicans campaigned and were elected on the promise to enhance freedom in Montana. This session, Republicans accomplished that mission. House Republicans continued to protect religious freedom in school settings, and passed HB 744, which allows students to discuss faith in school without fear of punishment. After all, our government funded education system exists for our students and they should be able to express their free speech. Freedoms of veterans were strengthened by passing HB 583, which creates...
We have seen shortages of things like eggs and baby formula. Imagine the shortage of energy and products that would result from eliminating 40% of the coal mined in the United States. As far-reaching and unimaginable as that might seem, a federal court in Montana appears set to do just that. The same judge who attempted to eliminate irrigation from the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers is now commanding the Bureau of Land Management to consider eliminating coal mining on federal lands in the Power River Basin. The Basin includes Richland County a...
I am writing to raise awareness and voice my concerns regarding Mid-Rivers’s utilization of the pay-per-gig model for their internet service. As a member-owned cooperative, Mid-Rivers should prioritize the best interests of its customers and foster an environment that benefits the entire community. Since its establishment in 1952, Mid-Rivers has been an integral part of our community, providing essential services to its members. However, the recent implementation of the pay-per-gig model, which I firmly believe should be referred to as the ...
People are now being told to avoid labelling of any kind whatsoever. Discrimination is always bad. Not being able to describe things can also be bad. The “woke” movement preaches that some people are “awake” and enlightened about social injustice. If you are “not woke” then you are obviously inferior and despicable in the eyes of “woke” people. Concerns about these trends are paradoxically not tolerated. Medical school students used to be taught to identify and describe patients we were trying to take care of. For example, while describin...
The parents of the post prom committee would like to extend a sincere thank you to the local area businesses for the support of this event for the safety of our kids. The post prom party was held at Central School from 11:30 p.m.-3 a.m. with MC Nick Kallem. This year’s after prom party featured laser tag, two escape rooms, a cornhole tournament, bingo, black jack, poker, craps, roulette, a photo booth, and plenty of snacks and drinks. Besides all the fun entertainment, the kids received tickets upon entering the event and could earn more t...
Greetings from Helena! The committees are about finished with their work. In Judiciary Committee, we had a Governor’s Judicial appointment for District 9, Gregory Bonilla. Shelby will be his headquarters. He answered my questions on the constitution well. He will be confirmed on the Senate Floor this week. In Fish and Game committee we had two Governor’s appointments to confirm for the State Parks and Recreation Board, Liz Whiting, and John Marancik. They will also be confirmed on the Senate Floor this week. Monday is going to be a busy day...
Greetings from Helena! This has been one of the busiest weeks in the Montana State Legislature since I have been here, for two reasons. One reason is that any Senate bills with a fiscal note have to be transferred to the House by Tuesday, April 4. The other reason is that all house bills that need amended have to be through the Senate by April 13. The time for sine die is getting closer. In Judiciary committee we heard several bills about how to change the path of Child Protective Services. Since Montana has the highest per capita in the nation...
Greetings from Helena! It seems like things are picking up again as deadlines are getting closer. We just have four weeks to finish our work for the year. We haven’t even started on HB2 and other spending bills. Every committee has been full of bills which made long days every day this week. There is a lot of conversation in the Ranger Review about HB234 by Representative Phalen. The conversation mentions two meetings, one in the Glendive Public Library, which Representative Phalen and I attended, and one in the DCHS library. So, I thought I w...
Greetings from Helena! We had quite a bit of activity on the Senate floor this past week, with mostly House bills. One Senate bill we had this week that had appropriations in it was SB 458, which would make the sex on a birth certificate the legal sex. This is to be consistent with Montana Code. There are supposedly 81 genders and climbing so things in the code are getting confusing and there have been some lawsuits threatened. HB450 dealt with bullying in schools and self-defense. In Judiciary committee we dealt with bills about dangerous...
Greetings from Helena! It was good to be home for a few days and seeing the friendly faces in eastern Montana. I get a lot of emails and phone calls from my constituents in SD18. The large majority are in support of how I vote. There are a small few who are not. When I ran for senate, I swore to uphold the constitution. My life is guided by my faith in God and the moral principles He has set. I use these as my guide when I am voting. Governor Gianforte is going to have a bill signing Monday, March 13, 2023, to sign a group of bills including...
Disneyland has removed the phrase “zip-a-dee-doo-dah” from the music of its parades due to concerns about racial sensitivity. Disney made the change due to the phrase’s origin in the 1946 film “Song of the South,” which has long been criticized for its idealistic portrayal of the post-war South. This was probably one of the most fun and happy songs in animation history. Apparently, for reasons I don’t understand, the following words are now felt to be racist: “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. My, oh my, what a wonderful day. Plenty of sun...
Greetings from Helena! In Judiciary committee we heard bills about landlords and tenants, protecting individual rights from government, the abuse of the judicial system, and etc. It seems like there is a lot of concern about parent’s rights. From all over the state of Montana, schools and courts and child protective services have claimed responsibility for kids over parents. There have been several bills dealing with this issue. SB337 by Senator Manzella was one of these bills. In Public Health and Human Safety committee we had an array of b...
Greetings from Helena! The Transmittal deadline is coming up fast. I am going to introduce four more bills this week that need to be heard and hopefully moved through the Senate before Transmittal. There are two bills dealing with FWP, one dealing with DOJ, and one dealing with elections. The unions were active this week at the capitol. Along with the several lobbyists they have here all the time there were a lot of members walking around, holding signs, and testifying in committees. They were here because of my bill SB276 and HB 448,...
A formation of losses is destroying our way of life. Hot air is not saving it. Publicly noticed losses are closure of the MDU electric plant, closure of the Savage coal mine, and closure of the sugar factory. Additional threat of loss fails to be noticed. Those include the part of the irrigation case about Fort Peck and irrigation from the Missouri River, the Montana federal court case to diminish 44% of the nation’s coal mining and restrict oil and gas in the Powder River Basin which includes Richland County, and the drive to close first 3...
Greetings from Helena! We finished our 6th week, so we are one-third of the way into the 68th Legislative Session. We heard a variety of things in Judiciary this week. We heard some bills about dealing with injunctions. There are some cases where environmental groups have sued to stop mining or building projects and with no reason or a hearing judges will issue injunctions. Some of these injunctions have been around for years. We want to put a stop to this practice. We heard some bills on parent’s rights concerning Child Family Services (...
For almost the last 100 years, the sugar beet producers in our area have been recognized as some of the best sugar beet growers in the nation. We have always taken pride in growing the highest quality crop possible every year. We, the growers, are disappointed in American Crystal Sugar Company’s decision in closing our local Sidney, MT factory. The growers of our association have made every attempt to keep Sidney Sugars a viable operation, ever since it was purchased by American Crystal Sugar Company in 2002. Unfortunately, the sugar beet g...
Greetings from Helena! Jan. 30 - Some of my bills are moving through the process. I introduced SB55 in committee, which deals with the DEQ becoming a member of a national lobbying group, to deal with the Federal government, which is very anti-mining and fossil fuels, as you all know. SB 55 will be on the floor this week, probably. I am still working on getting my other bills, so they have a chance at passing. I am not much on compromising, but I understand that getting part of it is probably better than nothing. There are lots of lobbyists in H...
Things keep rolling on fast pace at the Capitol. There are lots of people involved in this process. There are elected officials, people representing themselves, agencies, and of course there are lobbyists and special interest groups, trying to help us from our opinion on most bills. It is an interesting process. One of the bills we heard this past week in Judiciary committee was SB210. This bill deals with assisted suicide. There are several problems now with Montana Code Annotated (MCA) concerning assisted suicide. As far as death...
I am a physician who has worked in this region since 1986. I look at the local newspapers, browse the headlines, but admit that I do not read the details of most articles. After I read a prominently featured submission, entitled “Middle-class politeness” in the Sidney Herald newspaper (dated 1/22/23), however, I felt compelled to respond. It irritated me that Jim Elliott (from the far western part of Montana), the author of that article, took former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s words from 1978 completely out of context. The autho...
Greetings from Helena! There was a lot of activity at the capitol this week. I saw a few people from eastern Montana. It is fun to have you stop and see us if you are in Helena. One important bill that is coming up soon in Judiciary committee is SB99. This bill prohibits kids under 18 years old from receiving surgery to alter their anatomy in an attempt to change their gender. I have received a lot of mail on this subject, much of it is hard to understand, but it has not changed my mind. SB58, my Block Management bill, has passed out of the...
