Missoula Legislators Shine in 65th Session
It was a busy 65th session of the Montana Legislature that ended earlier this month, with nearly 1,200 bills presented, but only a fraction that actually passed and were signed by Governor Steve Bullock.
Executive Director of the Legislative Services Division, Susan Fox, provides the numbers for the session.
"We had 2,644 bill draft requests, but not all those get drafted or introduced," Fox said. "So, we ended up with 1,188 bills that were introduced, and to date, 440 of those bills have become law. 98 resolutions have been filed with the Secretary of State, and there are only 11 bills left on the governor's desk. We have 43 vetoes to date, and eight of those are being polled to determine if the legislature will try to override those vetoes."
Fox also provided information about which legislators were the most productive during the session, and two from Missoula stood out.
"Of the Senate Democrats, it's Cynthia Wolken of Senate District 48 in Missoula who had seven bills and one resolution, that's an 80 percent success rate, one of the highest percentage of all her bills that were introduced," Fox said. "Senator Ed Buttrey from Senate District 13 in Great Falls had 11 bills that passed, and in addition to that he had 10 confirmations of the governor's appointments. He still has one bill on the governor's desk being considered.
In the House, another Missoula legislator was singled out.
"In the House, Representative Kim Dudik of House District 94 had 11 bills that passed, and the top number of bills came from House Republican Rob Cook from House District 18 had 12 bills passed, and we was also at 80 percent of all the bills he introduced," she said.
Not only did Dudik have a productive session, she also gave birth while the session was ongoing, even getting a photo opportunity with Governor Steve Bullock.