Montana Exceptionalism

"It’s clear the western frontier values that made America great – individual freedom, self-reliance, relentless optimism, a fierce drive to innovate, radical openness to opportunity, mutual respect for each other’s freedom – were still alive on the Montana House floor that day."

Montana’s legislature has officially wrapped and it will go down as one of the most contentious and polarizing in recent history. But in the midst of the legislative chaos, I was struck by a remarkable exchange in April on the House Floor over a pro-housing bill. A bipartisan group of lawmakers were taking turns making their case for a bill to actually limit government. Imagine that! The exchange was a great illustration of ‘Montana Exceptionalism’ – the idea that our state and the people who live here are uniquely extraordinary.

The bill in question was SB 243 from Missoula Senator Ellie Boldman, a proposal to legalize constructing taller mixed-use buildings in commercial and downtown zones by limiting local government building height regulations. This was part of an ambitious bipartisan agenda of legislation this year aimed at easing restrictions on new housing by rolling back strict local zoning regulations. The legislature ultimately passed much of this pro-housing agenda, resulting in nation-leading housing reform.

Here’s some excerpts from the exchange:

‘If we want to preserve our open spaces, our agricultural land, the rural-ness of our state, we have to build housing that is more dense. We cannot keep just building on the outskirts of town or else eventually there’s not going to be any land left to expand.’ – Rep. Katie Zolnikov (R) Billings

‘We as Republicans ran on a simple platform and that was limited government and less regulation and here we have a bill that does that. There’s no greater infringement on your rights than when you get all kinds of restrictions on your property’… ‘This is a less government bill. This is a pro-housing bill. This is exactly the type of thing that we as Republicans should be voting for.’  – Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick (R) Great Falls

‘When expensive people move into this housing, they will vacate housing that they’re currently remote working in for the workforce. That workforce housing will be emptied out and actual normal Montanans will be able to move in there and work in the community in which they live. I strongly stand in support of this bill’ – Rep. Kelly Kortum (D) Bozeman

“We need more housing in general. By restricting the type of housing that we get, it’s not going to help our problem.” – Rep. Mike Vinton (R) Billings

‘When you serve in a local government, the voice of the NIMBY folks, people saying build housing but don’t build this in my backyard, that is very loud. It is a very strong pressure. And as a pro-housing person, I think it’s important that we help take some of that pressure off at the local level.’ – Rep. Marilyn Marler (D) Missoula

‘We have to look at all kinds of options to take care of the housing problem. If we build more housing, the market will adjust and these prices will come down. But if we put our heads in the sand and say it only has to be this and only these people can use it, then we won’t solve this crisis.’ – Rep. Larry Brewster (R) Billings

It’s clear the western frontier values that made America great – individual freedom, self-reliance, relentless optimism, a fierce drive to innovate, radical openness to opportunity, mutual respect for each other’s freedom – were still alive on the Montana House floor that day.

While increasing regulation, taxation, and government expansion at all levels crush the frontier spirit across America, Montana is still often the exception. Not always – lawmakers in the 2025 session imposed plenty of big government on us too – but often. Let’s celebrate that.

This column originally appeared in Lee Newspapers.