By Alanah Griffith EBS COLUMNIST
Hello Rep. Review readers! I’m Alanah Griffith. I was elected last November to represent House District 60, which includes Big Sky, West Yellowstone and Gallatin Gateway, in the Montana Legislature. This will be an ongoing series while I am in the legislature to bring to you the tools to track and to participate in bills that are important to you, and to keep you updated on region-relevant important bills.
I was born in Big Sky during the 1970’s. I was raised in Four Corners, where I graduated from Monforton then Bozeman High. After I graduated from law school, I moved back to Gallatin County. I have been working in business, real estate and HOA law for over two decades. I moved back to Big Sky about eight years ago. I ran for HD 60 to make sure that our district had a voice in the legislature, and to find solutions to property taxes and affordable housing for our communities. I am the first representative from Big Sky.
An important question that I heard while I was out knocking doors in our district was “how do I find out about bills that are coming up that I care about?” Luckily, the Montana Legislature has a bill tracker. To start tracking bills, go to the bill tracker website and sign up. Once you have your account, you can start tracking bills.
Let’s practice with House Bill 162. This is a bill to amend the 1% resort tax for infrastructure to include housing, which could have a huge impact on Big Sky and West Yellowstone. First, to find this bill, you would go to the Bill Tracker and log in. You can search for the bill by key words or a bill number in the search box. I put in “resort tax” first and hundreds of bills came up. That is because the default search is “or” so I received everything with “tax” or “resort.” Next, I tried “resort” and HB 162 came up. Once I found it, I just clicked on the “+” sign, and it is now tracked. When hearings are set and when changes happen, I will receive an email letting me know. That is how you can track a bill. There is a handy guide to the bill tracker system online.
Then what? You’ll get an alert that there for hearings on the bill. If the hearing is in a committee, you can participate. Each legislator is assigned to committees. If a legislator is working on appropriations and taxes (the budget) then that is their only committee. Otherwise, a legislator may have two or more committees. I was assigned to Judiciary, Agriculture and Federal Relations, Energy and Technology. Committees are the first place that a bill is heard. Bills are heard twice in committee, once on one side, then if they pass that side, then of the other side of the House or Senate.
HB 162 was assigned to the local government committee. As I write this, its hearing is scheduled for Jan. 21, at 3 p.m.
If you have something to say on any bill, and want to participate remotely, then you have to sign up at least two hours before the hearing (I suggest the day before to be sure.) If you just want to watch, then you can watch live or stream any of the hearings after it is completed. I will say, if you really, really care about a bill, then show up in person for the hearing. That always makes the biggest impact.
I hope this column helps bring our Montana Legislature into your homes. I have seen some of you out and about in Helena. Seeing you brings a smile to my face and keeps me motivated to do my very best for our district. It is truly my honor to serve you in Helena. Please let me know throughout the session if you have any questions, any thoughts on a bill or if I can help you with an issue. To close out my first column, I leave you with these words from one of my heroes, former Montana U.S. Senator Mike Mansfield:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Alanah Griffith was born in Big Sky and returned after law school to raise her son and practice law. Griffith represents Big Sky and the surrounding area in Montana’s House of Representatives. She can be reached by email at alanah.griffith@legmt.gov, on Facebook and on Instagram at, @griffithformt.
