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House committee advances bill to limit gubernatorial privilege over executive records
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Summary
A House committee voted to advance House Bill 271, sponsored by Representative Staffman, to narrow a gubernatorial privilege recently recognized by the Montana Supreme Court so more executive-branch records remain subject to public disclosure.
Representative Stefan Staffman moved House Bill 271 forward in committee, saying the measure would restore transparency by distinguishing personal privacy from documents about policy or politics.
"The best way to avoid mold in government is sunshine," Staffman said, urging a green vote. He described the bill as a way for the Legislature to "put in code the values of our constitution" after the Supreme Court recognized a governor's privilege in recent litigation.
The bill responds to a Montana Supreme Court ruling the sponsor described as having found a "gubernatorial privilege" rooted in the state's constitutional history. Opponents argued the court recognized a constitutional privilege that the Legislature cannot override by statute and warned the bill could be unconstitutional.
Representative Mercer, who spoke against the bill in committee, pointed to Article 6, Section 15 of the Montana Constitution and to the court's decision that recognized a privilege to protect candid advice to the governor. Mercer said the court described a high procedural bar requiring detailed showings in court and suggested the Legislature should "let this play out." He described the court's process for in-camera review and redaction and argued the bill risks abrogating a constitutional protection.
Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick said the court had expressly recognized a gubernatorial privilege and urged members to vote no as the bill was, in his words, "unconstitutional." Several other members framed the question as a close legal issue but differed on whether the Legislature should act now.
Staffman and supporters said the bill narrows the privilege to clearly retain an individual privacy exception while ensuring policy- and politics-related materials remain available to the public. Staffman and others warned that the court's approach would force citizens into expensive litigation to obtain records and that statutory clarification was needed to preserve public access.
On the committee motion to recommend do pass, the clerk recorded 52 votes in favor and 48 opposed. The bill later passed second reading in the full House and will proceed to subsequent legislative steps.
