Senate antics shamed whole state

Maybe Democratic senators were trying to look like champions of the people when they tried to shut down the Legislature on April 5, but we don’t think it came off that way to the average Montanan.

Instead, reports of the senators banging on their desks and shouting rather than debating and voting gave an impression of immature obstructionism.

What prompted this? Sen. Shannon Augare, D-Browning, was absent and his fellow Democrats would not vote to excuse him as required by a Senate rule. The goal was apparently to disrupt Republicans from passing two referendum bills that would allow voters to decide whether to end election-day voter registration and whether to go to a primary election system where the “top two” vote getters advance to the general election.

Regardless of whether a person likes or dislikes these proposals, who the heck likes issues being decided by technicalities or fine-print rule exploitation?

It makes it worse that the Democratic senators were attempting to block voters from getting a chance to decide these matters. For all they know, voters could soundly reject both measures.

Then there is the matter of the collateral damage that could have been caused by this stunt. Had the Democrats succeeded in stopping voting, a variety of important taxation bills would have stalled, not making a deadline to be passed onto the House for consideration.

Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, is sponsoring a bill that would change the state’s property appraisal system from a six-year cycle to a two-year cycle. He maintains that the change to a more frequent appraisal system will be required because of recent court decisions, and if his bill did not pass this session, the Legislature would be required to hold a special session to pass it. We can’t be certain that would happen, but if it did, that would definitely amount to significant collateral damage.

On top of that, Republican senators suspect that Augare’s absence was pre-arranged, and if that was the case, it amounts to collusion in blocking the business of the Legislature.

But we’ll never know, because this week Republican and Democratic Senate leaders came to a truce, agreeing that both sides would not resort to desk-banging and shouting tactics in the future. Senate President Jeff Essmann agreed to drop subpoenas aimed in part at determining whether Augare’s absence was orchestrated.

Fine. Let’s hope the truce works. Lawmakers are sent to Helena to do the people’s business, and all the better if it is done without over-the-top political theatrics.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.