![](https://usa-news-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-324-1.png)
This story is excerpted from Capitolized, a twice-weekly newsletter that keeps an eye on the representatives you voted for (or against) with expert reporting, analysis and insight from the editors and reporters of Montana Free Press. Want to see Capitolized in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday? Sign up here.
Last week, the Montana Senate approved a revision of the Public Service Commission districts in the state. If implemented, this revision would replace the map that was drawn last year as per a court order.
Senate Bill 109 would divide the commission’s five districts based on the reapportionment of Montana’s 100 state House seats that the state’s independent redistricting committee finalized earlier this year. Each PSC district would comprise 20 House districts and heavily favor Republican candidates for the commission, which regulates monopoly utilities in the state. Unlike legislative and U.S. House districts, which the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission draws every 10 years, the shape and population of PSC districts are the purview of the Legislature.
However, this arrangement posed several problems. The PSC map had not been revised by lawmakers for 18 years by the time of the 2021 session. Consequently, due to Montana’s significant but uneven population growth, the commission’s southwestern district had surpassed the Hi-Line district by over 50,000 individuals by 2021. Towards the end of that year, a coalition of Montana residents, led by former Republican Secretary of State Bob Brown, disputed the map on the basis of the 14th Amendment. They argued that the population disparities between districts violated the fundamental principle of equal representation, where each person’s vote carries equal weight.
A panel of federal judges eventually concurred, ordering the adoption of a new map that brought the maximum population deviance between counties to a presumptively constitutional 5.5%. The court acknowledged it did so reluctantly, and made clear that the Legislature had the authority to draw a new map the next time it met.
Kalispell Republican Sen. Keith Regier’s SB 109 began its life this session with two aims: endorsing the court-approved plan and adding language to statute mandating that the Legislature review and adjust PSC districts after each decennial census for compliance with the U.S. Constitution.
However, everything changed on the evening of February 28th, just a few days before the Legislature’s bill transmittal cutoff. The Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, despite opposition from committee Democrats, approved an amendment from Regier that redrew the five districts.
Instead of adhering to county boundaries, Regier’s amendment assigns 20 state House districts to each PSC district. As a consequence, several Democratic-leaning cities in Montana are divided between different districts. Additionally, the third district extends far into central Montana, reaching as far as Winnett and beyond. Some districts have unconventional appendages to ensure equal populations, with a maximum population deviation of 1.5% in Regier’s proposal.
On the court-approved map, western Montana’s district four and the southwestern district three would both lean Republican by a couple of points. All current commissioners are members of the GOP. Under the Regier plan, both districts would become significantly more Republican.
During the committee hearing, Regier stated that he would only introduce the new PSC plan once it had received approval from Montana’s secretary of state, which occurred in February. Furthermore, he emphasized that he had not referred to any political data while creating the maps.
He stated that if the population was made as equal as the redistricting commission did, the likelihood of districts being over or underpopulated in the next decade would be minimal.
However, Democrats expressed their dissatisfaction with the urban divisions’ count.
“I know you know that there are a lot of ways these districts could have been grouped,” Sen. Janet Ellis, D-Helena, told Regier on the floor Thursday. “One of the concerns I have, as you know, is this splits 14 counties, and almost all major cities in the state. It seems like there were other goals besides population equity.”
![](https://usa-news-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MTCapitolTracker-inline-1024x375-181.png)
Democrats argued that legislative districts must adhere to the requirements of being compact, contiguous, and equal in population as mandated by the Constitution. However, Republicans consistently voiced their concerns about the final map, citing oddly shaped districts and the division of communities with shared interests. Surprisingly, those objections now appear to have vanished.
“Many in this body asked the Districting and Apportionment Commission … to avoid splitting cities and towns, and to create the most compact map possible,” Sen. Andrea Olsen, D-Missoula, said Thursday.
However, Regier argued that PSC districts have no connection to constitutional provisions. The only stipulation is that they should be as equally populated as possible. Despite earlier complaints from Republicans about dividing cities among legislative districts, Regier claimed that it is advantageous for cities to be divided among PSC districts.
He explained that the discussion revolved around PSC districts, which are considerably larger than small House districts. Having two commissioners accountable to a city is advantageous.
There is a possibility of an issue arising: Don Kaltschmidt, the Montana GOP Chair, has expressed his intention to file a lawsuit regarding the recently established legislative districts. If this legal action proceeds and proves successful, Regier may find himself in a situation where he relied on legislative districts that could potentially be deemed illegal, despite his previous opposition towards them.
On Thursday, March 2, Regier’s revised SB 109 successfully passed with a 30-20 vote on the Senate floor. However, it is still pending approval from both the state House and the governor.