Veteran Democratic Sen. Joe Tropila made the surprise motion Saturday morning, with the Senate working and the House taking a paid day off.
His motion failed 45-5. Joining Tropila were Democratic Sens. Gerald Pease of Lodge Grass, Frank Smith of Poplar and Larry Jent of Bozeman and Republican Sen. Kelly Gebhardt of Roundup.
“I just wanted to make a point,” Tropila said later. “I knew it wasn’t going to pass.”
In a brief, hurried speech, Tropila said he made the adjournment motion for several reasons. He recounted it later for reporters, listing his reasons.
“The House takes the weekend off with pay,” he said.
He mentioned Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s statements to reporters Friday that he will call the Legislature into an immediate special session if lawmakers fail to complete their work, and he won’t sign the bill authorizing them to be paid. Schweitzer is in California for election fundraising, meetings with energy companies and an appearance on a political talk TV show.
“The House pressures our members to vote on their bills by holding our bills hostage on the table, making our members hold their noses and vote for their bills,” Tropila said.
Referring to the entire Legislature, Tropila said, “A house divided cannot stand.”
If his motion had passed and ended the session on the 85th day, the Legislature would have saved five days it could have used later to complete the work on existing bills. Lawmakers earlier passed a measure known as the “feed bill” that provided all the costs for a 90-day session, including paying them for the full 90 days.
If a special session is called, legislators must start with a new slate of bills and can’t hold over the ones still pending during the regular session. That would mean holding new sets of hearings on bills and beginning the legislative process all over again.
Tropila, who has served three stints in the both legislative chambers totaling 21 years, said he has been “amazed at some of the things the House has done.”
“Term limits have created this,” he said. “It’s sad.”
Under term limits, legislators don’t know how to engage in what Tropila called the “three Cs” - compromise, cooperation and communication.
By a 2-1 margin, Montana voters adopted a constitutional amendment in 1992 that allows state lawmakers to serve a maximum of eight years out of every 16 in one legislative chamber. However, senators can run for the House and serve eight more years after they are barred from term limits from serving any more in the Senate, and vice versa.
Top executive branch officials, such as the governor and attorney general, also are prohibited from serving more than eight years in the office in any 16-year period.
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