HELENA, Mont.— The State Legislature filed an amicus, or "friend of the court," brief in the Montana Supreme Court on Monday seeking to overturn an erroneous district court decision temporarily blocking two of the Legislature's bipartisan pro-housing bills.
The brief argues that Judge Michael Salvagni in Gallatin County violated the constitutional separation of powers that leaves policymaking to the legislative branch of government when he issued a preliminary injunction against Senate Bills 323 and 528.
SB 323 was sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, and SB 528 was sponsored by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson. The bills, which legalized duplexes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs), respectively, were part of the Legislature's package of pro-housing reforms designed to make homes more available and affordable to Montanans.
The bills, along with SB 382 and SB 245, all passed the Legislature with wide bipartisan support and have been repeatedly dubbed the "Montana Miracle" by national news outlets, think tanks, and housing advocates. All four laws were challenged in court by a group calling themselves "MAID," but only SBs 323 and 528 are currently enjoined, with an appeal of the injunction pending before the Montana Supreme Court.
"By granting the preliminary injunction, the District Court inappropriately weighed in on the policy debate, violating the separation of powers doctrine found in the Montana Constitution Article III, Section 1," argued the lawmakers. "[MAID's] dissatisfaction with the policy choices of the Legislature does not form a legitimate constitutional challenge to unwind the work the legislators were elected to do."
"MAID has no legitimate constitutional challenge because MAID was not elected to decide what housing policies best serve Montana. [Legislators] were elected to make those decisions and did so constitutionally. The speculative opinions about how effective the legislation may prove to be has no judicial remedy because no judge may substitute his or her personal judgment for that of the legislature," the brief concludes.
Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, had previously taken the courts to task for contributing to Montana's housing crisis by blocking the Legislature's reforms.
This is the third lawsuit the Legislature has intervened in following a new law passed in the 2023 session that allows legislative leadership to join litigation in defense of the Legislature's policies. The Legislature previously intervened in the Held v. Montana "climate kids" case, which is set for oral argument before the Supreme Court in July, and in a case over SB 319 from the 2021 session in which the Montana Supreme Court inappropriately invaded internal legislative processes. The Supreme Court responded to the SB 319 intervention earlier this year by stating the Court would issue a revised ruling that steers clear of internal legislative rules.
Kyle Schmauch
Communications & Policy Manager
Senate Republicans
Montana Legislature
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