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Montana bill aims to roll back court’s recognition of executive privilege for governor’s records

2663845 · March 17, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Representative Ed Staffman introduced House Bill 271 to limit a Montana Supreme Court‑recognized executive privilege and restore broader public access to governor’s office records, arguing the change would align law with Montana’s constitutional right to know.

Representative Ed Staffman told the Senate Judiciary Committee that House Bill 271 is intended to restore long‑standing transparency in executive branch records after a recent Montana Supreme Court decision recognized a common‑law executive privilege for the governor.

Why it matters: The sponsor said the court’s decision expanded an executive privilege that previously had not been asserted by Montana governors, and that the ruling requires costly…

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