The cost of legislative zeal

After the 2021 Montana Legislature adjourned, Democratic lawmakers quipped that bills passed by the Republican majority would produce a lot of jobs — for lawyers. Those predictions are proving to be true. A recent memo produced by legislative staff said that, as of November, state attorneys had spent over 1,800 hours defending challenges to laws passed in the 2021 session. And that doesn’t include time spent by plaintiffs’ lawyers on the challenges.

The laws in question addressed gun rights, judicial appointments, abortion access, voting rights and transgender issues. The legislative memo addr...