A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Rewritten, 19 April. Selling raw milk in Montana will be illegal for at least another two years. On Saturday, 18 April, three Democrats (Mary Caffero, Robyn Driscoll, and Cynthia Wolken) and 22 Republicans voted Aye, 18 Democrats and 7 Republicans voted Nay, on the second reading of Rep. Nancy Ballance’s bill, HB-245. A subsequent motion to indefinitely postpone the second reading passed 31–19. The legislature’s website lists the bill as “probably dead.”
The bill’s supporters are hopping mad, writing on Facebook that the cause of the bill’s death was “…false scaremongering tactics from opponents,” and are lobbying the naysayers to reconsider the bill. I don’t think that will happen, but no bill should be considered stone cold, stake through the heart dead until the legislature adjourns sine die.
Raw milk legalization legislation almost passed in the 2013 legislative session, getting whooped through the MT House 96–3 before dying in the Senate. In this session, the legislation passed the House again, but by a narrower margin. Interestingly, in both 2013 and 2015, victory eluded the raw milkers by just one vote in the Senate.
In the 2013 session, public health officials were caught by surprise. In this session, the public health community waged an effective campaign against the bill. That community must not let down its guard, for the raw milkers, while wrong, are persistent, and will be back with another raw milk legalization bill in the 2017 session.