INITIATIVE SHOWED VOTER INTENT

Thursday, May 5, Gov. Brian Schweitzer and three Republican state
legislators came to Whitefish to give their view of what was
accomplished during the 2011 legislative session. The panel consisted
of state senators Bruce Tutvedt, a local rancher, and Ryan Zinke, a
retired Navy Seal commander, and Rep. Derek Skees, who works is a
construction company vice-president.

I attended the affair, planning to ask a question as to why this
session of the legislature spent so much time on the issue of medical
marijuana, as this is an issue that was decided by the voters in 2004
by a statewide initiative, Initiative No. 148, "Montana Medical
Marijuana Act."

With the plethora of pressing problems of critical concern we face in
this state, not the least of which is unemployment at more than 10
percent in the valley and more than 20 percent in other counties in
Montana, and long lines at every food bank in Montana, it turned out
that many people who attended this function had essentially the same
question.

The medical marijuana initiative that was passed in 2004, by 62
percent of the voters in Montana, was simply not an issue that should
have dominated the 2011 legislature - but it did. Mr. Zinke, the state
senator from Whitefish, who is a former Navy Seal and a role model by
any standard, gave us his assessment of why that was.

He expressed the opinion that the situation we have now is really not
what 62 percent of the voters had in mind in 2004, stating that the
current situation is encouraging use of marijuana in our schools and
is discouraging industry from coming into Montana.

Unfortunately, however, none of the Republicans who have so diligently
pursued repeal of this voter initiative has provided any supporting
documentation whatsoever to support either of these claims. Be that as
it may, Mr. Zinke made it clear that he felt that 150 state
legislators, for the most part very well off retired folks and/or
wealthy ranchers or businessmen, are better equipped to decide what
was intended by the 2004 initiative than are Montana voters themselves.

The street in front of Whitefish Middle School was filled with more
than 300 demonstrators who could not have disagreed more with Mr.
Zinke's assessment. Judging from the response from the capacity crowd
inside the Performing Arts Center auditorium, where the affair was
held, they did not agree with him either. Sympathy was clearly with
the crowd in the street.

The governor expressed agreement with the obvious sentiment of the
crowd with his statement to the effect that if this issue needed to be
revisited, it should have been done by a statewide voter initiative,
the same way the issue was originally addressed in 2004. The governor
went on to express his disappointment with the entire matter,
indicating he vetoed the earlier version of Senate Bill 423, House
Bill 161, but that he would probably do nothing as to this version of
the bill.

He had until May 8 to veto or sign the bill. If he does nothing, it
becomes law effective July 1. If this happens, there will be many who
will be very disappointed in a governor they have learned to expect
more of. Then, also, the advocacy groups will probably file one or
more lawsuits before this law can take effect, and taxpayer money will
continue to be spent with regard to an issue that has already been
decided by the voters.

It would seem from this experience that as voters, we all need to do a
much better job expressing in clear terms what priorities we expect
from the people we send to the legislature every two years for 90
days, making it emphatically clear to each and every one of these
people that we are not sending them to Helena to repeal statewide
initiatives which have been voted on and overwhelmingly agreed to by a
large majority of Montana voters.