Montana Democrats say ban on weekend rallies shuts constituents out of Capitol

Fifty-seven Democratic state lawmakers — just shy of the state’s 60-member Democratic caucus — signed on to a letter Tuesday urging the governor to reconsider new guidelines banning permits for weekend rallies on the Capitol grounds.

Gov. Greg Gianforte did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Montana Free Press reported last week that new guidelines say public events requiring a permit “may only occur on weekdays and between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., excluding holidays.”

Organizers of the upcoming “No Kings” rally March 28 in Helena condemned the change, saying it violates their First Amendment rights to assemble and to free speech. State officials said the new rule, which was quietly enacted last month, was meant to save money.

In their letter to the governor dated Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers wrote that eliminating weekend event permits on Capitol grounds would prevent Montanans from expressing their opinions.

“Many Montanans live hours away from Helena and work full time during the week,” the letter said. “For them, weekends are often the only practical opportunity to travel to the Capitol and gather with fellow citizens to make their voices heard. Eliminating weekend events effectively shuts many Montanans out of that opportunity.”

Lawmakers asked Gianforte in the letter “to reconsider” the permitting decision “and restore the longstanding practice of allowing permitted weekend events on the Capitol grounds.”

“Doing so would reaffirm Montana’s commitment to constitutional freedoms and to the principle that the Capitol belongs to the people of Montana,” they wrote.

Rep. Tom France, D-Missoula, told MTFP he wrote a first draft of the letter because “the Gianforte administration has decided to shut down the people’s house.

“I feel strongly that infringes on every Montanan’s right to petition their government,” he told MTFP Tuesday afternoon. France added that he asked Republican colleagues to sign on but did not hear back from them.

“I don’t think these basic constitutional issues should be partisan,” he said. “I think they’re bipartisan, and I hope the Gianforte administration will reconsider.”

Reporter JoVonne Wagner contributed to this story.