One hot June afternoon I was clearing a ten foot wide swath through a brush patch so we could rebuild a section of fence crossing this little draw. Each winter snowdrifts would crush the fence which had been stretched and spliced so much over the years it was time for a rebuild. Before arming my two brothers with axes and me a chainsaw, Dad delivered the standard ranch version of safety training. He said, “Don’t get hurt.” It was a simple lecture which ubiquitously applied to every ranch chore from fencing to running a swather, to trailing cows. Sometimes it was lengthened to a more descriptive, “Don’t be stupid and get hurt”, but either way an approving nod of your head was the only response expected. We nodded and ferociously attacked the wild chokecherry and plum brush. I was amazed at the raw power of the chainsaw as I swept it back and forth through the brush in front of me. My brothers were equally amazed and stood a good ten feet behind me; something they frequently did when I had a crazed look in my eye. I looked like a freckle-faced, skinny Paul Bunyan with a crew cut. Life is great when you are thirteen and swinging a chainsaw.
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Like all teenagers, I wasn’t as humble as I am now. (I bet that gagged a few readers of the opposing ideology.) I had a long, long list of things I knew and a very short list of things I didn’t. Unfortunately, I was about to add a critical bullet point to my “Didn’t Know List.” With the sweat streaming down my face, I spotted an unidentified flying insect (UFI) descend into a crack in the ground. Seconds later, another UFI flew out of the same crack. “Wow, that’s amazing,” I thought. “I wonder what kind of bugs those are.” (Astute readers know what happened next, mostly because they did something similar when they were teenagers.) With curiosity fully suppressing my logic centers, I revved up the old chain saw and plunged all 16 inches of the blade directly into the living quarters of a ground hornet’s nest—clearly something I didn’t need to do.

Logical thinkers should never make such a foolish mistake, yet on February 4th, the Montana’s House did exactly such. HB198, an Act clarifying a public utility’s power of eminent domain, passed second reading on a vote of 56 to 44. This is simply a hornet’s nest we didn’t need to kick, yet kick it we did. Let me explain.

I was one of the 12 Republicans who joined with the 32 Democrats in voting “no” on this bill. My opposition is not so much I am diametrically opposed to this heavily amended, two paragraph bill, it’s just that advocates for its passage did not convince me there was compelling constitutional reasons to change Montana code. Hence, I always default to the status quo.

Montana’s Constitution clearly states in Article II, Section 29: Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation…The key words being “taken, damaged, public use, and just compensation.” Our US Constitution does not use the specific phrase “eminent domain”, yet clearly states in the Fifth Amendment: “…nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation". Other than the word “damaged” in the Montana Constitution, the intent in both these documents is clearly the same.

As I read it, HB198 does not grant new eminent domain powers and it merely clarifies a power of condemnation existing in Montana Code and case law for over 100 years. Leadership sold HB198 as a job creation bill—something I also don’t believe. However, political battles are fought in the public arena where perception always holds the tactical advantage over reality. The overwhelming fact remains the public perceives HB198 expanding the condemnation powers of a foreign company over Montana landowners, when in reality it does not.

The Democrats along with the governor have gained a significant political advantage in allowing Republicans to pass HB198. In some manner I expect them to beat us about the head and shoulders with HB198, but I’ll be dang if I can figure out their angle. Many Republicans are being stung by their “yes” votes so I am glad I defaulted to “no”. Just like stabbing a chainsaw into a hornets nest, introducing HB198 was an unnecessary and stupid, but we did it.