Gov. Gianforte's Foundation Has Given Away $57 Million Since 2017. Here's Where It Went.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte is among the state’s highest-profile political figures. He’s also a major philanthropic force.  Nonprofit tax records indicate that his family foundation gave $57 million to charities and social issue nonprofits between 2017, the year Gianforte was first elected to public office as a Montana congressman, and 2022, the most recent year for which detailed data is publicly available. 

Montana Legislature Responds to Held Climate Case Montana Supreme Court Ruling

By Staff Writer, Montana Sentinel Press 

Incoming President of the Senate Matt Regier, Kalispell [pictured right], and Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, R-Savage, issued the following statement in response to the Montana Supreme Court’s ruling today [06/18/24] in the Held v. Montana case: 

The Montana Supreme Court turned the courtroom into a legislative policy committee, drastically overstepping its constitutional boundaries into the Legislature’s role and violating the separation of powers. Montanans will continue to suffer decades of economic and social harm if we don’t turn our activist and overreaching courts around.

Judicial reform was already a top priority for Republican lawmakers in our legislative session that starts in less than three weeks. After today, our message to the judiciary is simply this: buckle up. 

The Lesson From Montana, Stop Judicial Usurpation Before It Becomes Too Late

By Rob Natelson

From time to time I’ve told the story of how the left-leaning activists on the Montana Supreme Court exercise oligarchical control over the people of the state state—see, for example, here, here, and here. (“Oligarchy” means “rule by the few, as opposed to “democracy,” rule by the people.)

By misconstruing parts of the state constitution, the Montana justices have snatched state public policy from the democratic branches of government. Among the areas of policy where the justices’ political preferences are decisive are election law, environmental law, business regulation, and health law.

In those areas, the court severely restricts the options open to the people’s elected representatives. For example, when the legislature decided to move back the voter registration deadline from Election Day to the day before, the court declared the change unconstitutional. (Of course, the deadline for registration traditionally has been a full month before Election Day.) The court didn’t give the legislature even 24 hours leeway!

Global Warming Can’t Be Ignored, Montana’s Top Court Says, Upholding Landmark Climate Case

By Amy Beth Hanson 

Updated 3:26 PM MST, December 18, 2024

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a landmark climate ruling that said the state was violating residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment by permitting oil, gas and coal projects without regard for global warming.

The justices, in a 6-1 ruling, rejected the state’s argument that greenhouse gases released from Montana fossil fuel projects are minuscule on a global scale and reducing them would have no effect on climate change, likening it to asking: “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?”

The plaintiffs can enforce their environmental rights “without requiring everyone else to stop jumping off bridges or adding fuel to the fire,” Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote for the majority. “Otherwise the right to a clean and healthful environment is meaningless.”

Only a few other states, including Hawaii, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York, have similar environmental protections enshrined in their constitutions.