Successes of the 2017 Legislature

Imagine you were told, as you headed onto the field, that your team would have nearly one-third fewer players than the opposing team - and that the other team would get to set the rules that you would have to play by.

For Democrats in the 2017 Legislature, that has been our reality.

In order to get good things done, Democrats worked hard to reach across the aisle and bring others on board. And together with a group of reasonable Republicans, Democrats led the way on legislation that will benefit Montanans for years to come. Here are some of the highlights:

• Criminal justice reform: We passed the most comprehensive package of criminal justice reform legislation in a generation - more than a dozen bipartisan bills to give judges and prosecutors the tools to make our system smarter, save money and reduce recidivism.

• Earned Income Tax Credit: One of the most progressive anti-poverty tax bills in years, this credit will help thousands of working families keep more of their hard-earned money.

• Apprenticeships: We helped Montana workers and businesses with a tax credit for businesses that hire and train apprentices - and a double credit for hiring veterans in an apprenticeship program.

• Mental health and suicide prevention: We established that insurance companies must cover mental health on the same level as physical health. We also dedicated $1 million for local communities, school districts and tribes to develop their own suicide prevention programs, with particular emphasis on rural areas, Native Americans and veterans.

• Protecting public lands: Democrats worked hard to fight off some extremely dangerous legislation that would have forced Montana hunters to compete with out-of-staters for licenses.

Although we celebrate these successes, it is no secret that the state endured some serious setbacks this session. The top priority of Democrats was to pass a comprehensive infrastructure package and get people to work on important projects across the state. Although we carried and passed several important public works bills, we were not able to overcome Republican opposition to the most important infrastructure bill of the session.

Democrats made it clear we were not going to pick winners and losers or pit communities against each other. Together with reasonable Republicans, we worked out a package of critical infrastructure projects: rural water and sewer systems; improvements to dozens of K-12 schools and to Montana State University campuses in Bozeman, Billings and Great Falls; a needed water intake in Laurel; improvements to Makoshika State Park near Glendive; and a loan to finally build the long-planned Southwest Montana Veterans home in Butte.

This package passed out of the Republican-controlled Senate with the required two-thirds majority. But when it got to the House, we came up against the resistance of Republican leadership. Every single Democrat voted for infrastructure and we were ready to fight to the final day to get this done, but a Republican minority killed the bill and then voted to end the session early, leaving more than $120 million in crucial projects unfunded.

With just three more Republican votes, the entire package would have passed.

We can promise you that Democrats will continue to fight for infrastructure into 2019. In the meantime, we hope the people of Montana will reach out to lawmakers and let us know what matters to you. We want to hear your opinions. And we will work throughout the interim and beyond to make Montana a better state for all of us.