Southwest Billings SMART Growth

06/16/2023

We’re disappointed to learn that the veto override of HB 707 failed. We needed 66 votes in the House and 33 in the Senate and we received 61/31. We are grateful for the many lawmakers who worked so hard to get this through. There was so much support for this bill and we’re discouraged that Governor Gianforte chose to disregard the legislatures wishes and veto it. Failure of this bill makes it very difficult for us to move forward with our efforts to create a much needed high school in Southwest Billings. The only option at this time is consolidation of the four school districts and we do not have support from all four school boards to pursue that path.

05/31/2023

WE NEED YOU! There's still time to email the legislators and ask them to support the veto override of HB 707. Ballots are due by June 15th but please email to the listed addresses soon! Here's a couple tips when writing your email:
1. Ask the legislator to turn in their ballot in support of HB707.
2. Make it personal! Tell them why we need a high school in this area and how it would benefit your family, our community, and other communities throughout the state. Or tell them why you were disappointed with Governor Gianforte's veto after it received so much support in the legislature.
3. Be respectful. We have so much support from the legislature and many of them are working on our behalf. They already supported and passed the bill so let them know how thankful you are for their continued support.
4. Include your name and address. Many of the legislators would like to respond to their constituents. If you include your address they will know who is in their district.

Thank you for your enthusiasm and efforts to make this happen! Please share this post with your friends and neighbors.

"Gianforte, Greg" ,
"Etchart, Jodee" ,
"Carlson, Jennifer" ,
"Usher, Barry" ,
"Abbott, Kim" ,
"Anderson, Fred" ,
"Barker, Brad" ,
"Baum, Denise" ,
"Bedey, David" ,
"Bergstrom, James" ,
"Bertoglio, Marta" ,
"Binkley, Michele" ,
"Bishop, Laurie" ,
"Brewster, Larry" ,
"Brockman, Tony" ,
"Buckley, Alice" ,
"Butcher, Ed" ,
"Buttrey, Edward" ,
"Caferro, Mary" ,
"Carter, Bob" ,
"Cohenour, Jill" ,
"Deming, Lee" ,
"Dooling, Julie" ,
"Duram, Neil" ,
"Essmann, Sherry" ,
"Falk, Terry" ,
"Fern, Dave" ,
"Fielder, Paul" ,
"Fitzgerald, Ross" ,
"Fitzpatrick, John" ,
"France, Tom" ,
"Frazer, Gregory" ,
"Galloway, Steven" ,
"Gillette, Jane" ,
"Gist, Steven" ,
"Green, Paul" ,
"Gunderson, Steve" ,
"Hamilton, Jim" ,
"Harvey, Derek" ,
"Hastings, Naarah" ,
"Hawk, Donavon" ,
"Hellegaard, Lyn" ,
"Hinkle, Jedediah" ,
"Hinkle, Caleb" ,
"Hopkins, Mike" ,
"Howell, SJ" ,
"Jones, Llew" ,
"Karlen, Jonathan" ,
"Kassmier, Josh J." ,
"Keenan, Bob" ,
"Keogh, Connie" ,
"Kerns, Scot" ,
"Kerr-Carpenter, Emma" ,
"Kmetz, Greg" ,
"Knudsen, Casey" ,
"Knudsen, Rhonda" ,
"Kortum, Kelly" ,
"Ler, Brandon" ,
"Loge, Denley M." ,
"Lynch, Jennifer" ,
"Malone, Marty" ,
"Marler, Marilyn" ,
"Marshall, Ron" ,
"Matthews, Eric" ,
"Mercer, Bill" ,
"Miner, Russel" ,
"Mitchell, Braxton" ,
"Moore, Terry" ,
"Nave, Fiona" ,
"Nicol, Nelly" ,
"Nikolakakos, George" ,
"Oblander, Greg" ,
"Parry, Gary" ,
"Phalen, Bobby" ,
"Read, Joe" ,
"Regier, Matt" ,
"Regier, Amy" ,
"Reksten, Linda" ,
"Romano, Melissa" ,
"Running Wolf, Tyson T." ,
"Rusk, Wayne" ,
"Schillinger, Jerry" ,
"Seekins-Crowe, Kerri" ,
"Sheldon-Galloway, Lola" ,
"Smith, Tanner" ,
"Smith, Frank J." ,
"Smith, Laura" ,
"Sprunger, Courtenay" ,
"Stafman, Ed" ,
"Stewart Peregoy, Sharon" ,
"Sullivan, Katie" ,
"Thane, Mark" ,
"Tuss, Paul" ,
"Walsh, Kenneth" ,
"Weatherwax, Jr., Marvin R." ,
"Welch, Tom" ,
"Windy Boy, Jonathan" ,
"Wirth, Zack" ,
"Yakawich, Mike" ,
"Zephyr, Zooey" ,
"Zolnikov, Katie" ,
"Bartel, Dan" ,
"Beard, Becky" ,
"Bogner, Kenneth" ,
"Boldman, Ellie" ,
"Brown, Bob" ,
"Cuffe, Mike" ,
"Curdy, Willis" ,
"Dunwell, Mary Ann" ,
"Ellis, Janet" ,
"Ellsworth, Jason" ,
"Emrich, Daniel" ,
"Fitzpatrick, Steve" ,
"Flowers, Pat" ,
"Fox, Michael" ,
"Fuller, John" ,
"Gillespie, Bruce" ,
"Glimm, Carl" ,
"Gross, Jen" ,
"Hayman, Denise" ,
"Hertz, Greg" ,
"Hinebauch, Steve" ,
"Kelker, Kathy" ,
"Lang, Mike" ,
"Lenz, Dennis" ,
"Lynch, Ryan" ,
"Mandeville, Forrest" ,
"Manzella, Theresa" ,
"McClafferty, Edie" ,
"McGillvray, Tom" ,
"McKamey, Wendy" ,
"Molnar, Brad" ,
"Morigeau, Shane" ,
"Noland, Mark" ,
"Shannon.O'[email protected]"

05/31/2023

A bill that would have helped with a new high school in Billings has been vetoed. Gov. Gianforte stated the bill would increase the tax burden, create inefficiencies and expand bureaucracy.

05/24/2023

Once again we are needing EVERYONE'S help. Gov. Gianforte vetoed HB707. However, there is still hope! We are so close. We just need you to take a minute TODAY and email these representatives.
1. Urge them to return their veto ballots
2. Have them vote yes to override the governors veto on HB707.

That is all we need from you. Just copy and paste all of these email addresses into one email.

We have amazing people working behind the scenes on this and we are very optimistic.

Senator Friedel from Blue Creek, who has been a huge proponent of HB707 issued a statement to help people understand why it was voted down by the Governor. There seems to be some misunderstanding on the Governor's part.

"Contrary to the Governor's statement in the letter, this bill decentralizes and reduces governmental bureaucracy and allows for more local control and direction. As for the Governor's assertion that it would increase the tax burden on the local taxpayers, the taxpayers would have the opportunity to vote on the formation of said district. Next, the four districts in my community were surveyed, and 89% said they favored creating a high school district. And last, this bill passed the House 96-2 and the Senate 41-9. Please call your legislator and respectfully ask them to vote to overwrite this veto."

"Etchart, Jodee" ,
"Carlson, Jennifer" ,
"Usher, Barry" ,
"Abbott, Kim" ,
"Anderson, Fred" ,
"Barker, Brad" ,
"Baum, Denise" ,
"Bedey, David" ,
"Bergstrom, James" ,
"Bertoglio, Marta" ,
"Binkley, Michele" ,
"Bishop, Laurie" ,
"Brewster, Larry" ,
"Brockman, Tony" ,
"Buckley, Alice" ,
"Butcher, Ed" ,
"Buttrey, Edward" ,
"Caferro, Mary" ,
"Carter, Bob" ,
"Cohenour, Jill" ,
"Deming, Lee" ,
"Dooling, Julie" ,
"Duram, Neil" ,
"Essmann, Sherry" ,
"Falk, Terry" ,
"Fern, Dave" ,
"Fielder, Paul" ,
"Fitzgerald, Ross" ,
"Fitzpatrick, John" ,
"France, Tom" ,
"Frazer, Gregory" ,
"Galloway, Steven" ,
"Gillette, Jane" ,
"Gist, Steven" ,
"Green, Paul" ,
"Gunderson, Steve" ,
"Hamilton, Jim" ,
"Harvey, Derek" ,
"Hastings, Naarah" ,
"Hawk, Donavon" ,
"Hellegaard, Lyn" ,
"Hinkle, Jedediah" ,
"Hinkle, Caleb" ,
"Hopkins, Mike" ,
"Howell, SJ" ,
"Jones, Llew" ,
"Karlen, Jonathan" ,
"Kassmier, Josh J." ,
"Keenan, Bob" ,
"Keogh, Connie" ,
"Kerns, Scot" ,
"Kerr-Carpenter, Emma" ,
"Kmetz, Greg" ,
"Knudsen, Casey" ,
"Knudsen, Rhonda" ,
"Kortum, Kelly" ,
"Ler, Brandon" ,
"Loge, Denley M." ,
"Lynch, Jennifer" ,
"Malone, Marty" ,
"Marler, Marilyn" ,
"Marshall, Ron" ,
"Matthews, Eric" ,
"Mercer, Bill" ,
"Miner, Russel" ,
"Mitchell, Braxton" ,
"Moore, Terry" ,
"Nave, Fiona" ,
"Nicol, Nelly" ,
"Nikolakakos, George" ,
"Oblander, Greg" ,
"Parry, Gary" ,
"Phalen, Bobby" ,
"Read, Joe" ,
"Regier, Matt" ,
"Regier, Amy" ,
"Reksten, Linda" ,
"Romano, Melissa" ,
"Running Wolf, Tyson T." ,
"Rusk, Wayne" ,
"Schillinger, Jerry" ,
"Seekins-Crowe, Kerri" ,
"Sheldon-Galloway, Lola" ,
"Smith, Tanner" ,
"Smith, Frank J." ,
"Smith, Laura" ,
"Sprunger, Courtenay" ,
"Stafman, Ed" ,
"Stewart Peregoy, Sharon" ,
"Sullivan, Katie" ,
"Thane, Mark" ,
"Tuss, Paul" ,
"Walsh, Kenneth" ,
"Weatherwax, Jr., Marvin R." ,
"Welch, Tom" ,
"Windy Boy, Jonathan" ,
"Wirth, Zack" ,
"Yakawich, Mike" ,
"Zephyr, Zooey" ,
"Zolnikov, Katie" ,
"Bartel, Dan" ,
"Beard, Becky" ,
"Bogner, Kenneth" ,
"Boldman, Ellie" ,
"Brown, Bob" ,
"Cuffe, Mike" ,
"Curdy, Willis" ,
"Dunwell, Mary Ann" ,
"Ellis, Janet" ,
"Ellsworth, Jason" ,
"Emrich, Daniel" ,
"Fitzpatrick, Steve" ,
"Flowers, Pat" ,
"Fox, Michael" ,
"Fuller, John" ,
"Gillespie, Bruce" ,
"Glimm, Carl" ,
"Gross, Jen" ,
"Hayman, Denise" ,
"Hertz, Greg" ,
"Hinebauch, Steve" ,
"Kelker, Kathy" ,
"Lang, Mike" ,
"Lenz, Dennis" ,
"Lynch, Ryan" ,
"Mandeville, Forrest" ,
"Manzella, Theresa" ,
"McClafferty, Edie" ,
"McGillvray, Tom" ,
"McKamey, Wendy" ,
"Molnar, Brad" ,
"Morigeau, Shane" ,
"Noland, Mark" ,
"Shannon.O'[email protected]"

04/28/2023

The passing of HB707 will make our goal of building a high school in Southwest Billings more attainable! It's time to get working! Please help us spread the word about this page and our efforts. We need all the support we can get!

The Montana Legislature passed a House Bill 707, that would allow those boards to stay independent for kindergarten through eighth grade, but come together on a high school district.

04/27/2023

Super excited about the passing of HB 707. This will eliminate a big hurdle. There is still a lot of work to be done but we are committed and excited to see what the future holds for our students! Thanks for everyone’s support this far. We need you. Spread the word about this, together we can make some great things happen.

HB 707 removes the requirement that adjoining elementary districts must consolidate to form a new high school district, potentially clearing the way for a new Billings West End high school.

04/18/2023

HB 707 passed in the Senate today! Thank you Senators Friedel and McGillvray and Representative Etchart for speaking on our behalf and working so hard on this issue. Thank you to all those who voted in favor of this bill. You can watch the discussion and vote of the 2nd reading here http://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00309/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20170221/-1/46256?agendaId=273632
The passing of this bill will allow us to create a high school district without consolidating. It moves us closer to our goal! Now is the time to work with our school boards, superintendents, and communities to keep things going. Let your school board know that you would like them to participate in the demographic study.

Senate Floor Session - Video

04/14/2023

It’s alive! Thanks to everyone who emailed and called we were able to get HB 707 reconsidered in the Senate Finance Committee with a minor amendment regarding the timeline of when a school could be built. It passed 11-7 and is onto the last vote in the Senate next week. We feel confident that it will pass with a large majority! We will update you as soon as we know. We’re grateful to our MT legislators for working so hard on this, especially our bill sponsor Representative Jodee Etchart!

04/12/2023

Dennis Lenz is our local representative for Billings and the county, he has the swing vote on this issue and voted NO in the Senate Finance Committee. It failed 9-10 in this committee and is in danger of being killed! Please email him and urge him to reconsider and vote YES on HB707. This is critical. If you emailed yesterday send one more! Call the switchboard and leave a message for Representative Lenz and tell him that his constituents want the opportunity to vote on this issue and to reconsider his vote, phone #406-444-4800. Lastly, message the whole Senate Finance & Claims Committee and encourage them to reconsider HB 707 https://leg.mt.gov/web-messaging/ !
Thank you!

[email protected]

04/12/2023

Thank you to everyone who took the time to email our Montana legislators. The bill was discussed this morning during the senate finance committee and we are crossing our fingers for a positive outcome! We will keep you all posted once we hear. Thanks again!

04/11/2023

Billings! We need your help. We have had so many people reach out and ask how they can help us in this endeavor and now is the time that we need all hands on deck! We have made such progress. This next step is critical for us in making a high school a reality. We need you to email our Montana representatives and tell them you support HB707. HB707 will allow for our schools to create a high school district without having to consolidate our k-8 districts. Current law would require Blue Creek, Canyon Creek, Elysian and Elder Grove to become one school district. HB707 would give us options and not make it a requirement to consolidate. THIS is super important. If you are interested at pursuing a county high school, we need your voice to be heard! Just send them a group message, something short and sweet about why you see the value in HB-707. They need to hear from you today! Tomorrow (Wednesday) they will be voting.
Thank you. We have such an amazing group of supporters! ❤️

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected] (Southwest Billings Senator)
[email protected]
[email protected]

04/08/2023

Legislative update!
We need your help!
Current MT law would require Blue Creek, Canyon Creek, Elder Grove, and Elysian to consolidate to create a high school district but we have another option that is currently under debate in the Montana Legislature. HB 707 is a bill that will allow adjacent K-8 districts with 1,000 students or more to create a high school district. This bill passed with full support in the MT House of Representatives but is now under consideration in the MT Senate. It will be up for vote shortly after Easter. We need you to email these representatives and urge them to vote YES for this bill. Share with them why a high school would benefit our community, and why it is important for us to have local control in regards to our children's education.
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected] (Southwest Billings Senator)
[email protected]
[email protected]