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House advances bill limiting courts' use of legislative conduct in bad‑faith fee awards
Summary
House Bill 365 would prevent courts from considering routine legislative conduct when assessing bad‑faith litigation fees against government entities. Proponents framed it as restoring separation-of‑powers; opponents said it would shield legislators from accountability after court findings of unconstitutional conduct.
Majority Leader Fitzpatrick introduced House Bill 365, which would revise the statutory bad‑faith analysis so that ordinary legislative conduct is not factored into awards of attorneys’ fees or other bad‑faith measures in litigation.
Fitzpatrick said the bill seeks to ensure “the conduct of the legislative branch in passing legislation ... is not to be considered when they look at the bad faith analysis,” describing the proposal as restoring the statute after a Montana Supreme Court decision that the sponsor characterized as overreaching. He argued the legislative branch should set and follow its own rules without being subject to fee awards for internal procedural choices.
Opponents warned the bill could insulate the legislature from consequences when courts find constitutional violations. Representative Griffith said lawmakers “should hold ourselves to a higher standard” and recounted a district-court finding that an amendment was outside the scope of a bill title and that a conference committee lacked public notice; Griffith argued those findings were constitutional issues, not merely internal rules. Representative Zephyr warned that the legislature’s repeated procedural shortcuts can amount to “bad faith actions of this body.”
On the recorded vote the committee recommended House Bill 365 do pass, 58 in favor and 42 opposed.
