0:47 → 1:04(17s)
WILD MONTANA and MONTANA WILDLIFE FEDERATION, Petitioners and Appellees, MONTANA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. GREG GIANFORTE, in his official capacity as GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MONTANA, and CHRISTI JACOBSEN, in her official capacity as SECRETARY OF STATE, Respondents and Appellants. Oral Argument 09/12/2025. On May 2, 2023, Governor Gianforte vetoed SB 442. The Senate adjourned sine die the same day without having received the veto. Secretary of State Jacobsen refused to conduct an “override poll” of the Legislature, stating she had not received the veto. Wild Montana, Montana Wildlife Federation, and Montana Association of Counties later sought, and obtained, writs of mandamus from the District Court, compelling the Governor to transmit his veto to the Secretary and the Secretary to conduct the override poll. The Governor and the Secretary appealed to the Montana Supreme Court and requested that the writs be stayed pending the outcome of the appeal. After the motions to stay were denied, the Secretary conducted the override poll while the appeal was pending. The Legislature did not override the Governor’s veto and SB 442 did not become law. The Governor and the Secretary allege that justiciable issues remain in this appeal because the District Court erred in issuing the writs. They argue the unusual timing of the veto and the sine die adjournment fell into a “procedural gap” in the veto provisions that raised a nonjusticiable political question, the Petitioner-Appellees did not have standing to raise the issue, and the Governor’s veto procedure was correct. However, the Appellees ask this Court to dismiss this appeal as moot, arguing no effective relief is available to the Appellants. In the meantime, the 2025 Legislature passed amendments to the veto procedure statute, SB 344; at the Court’s request, the parties submitted additional briefs to address whether the new amendments affect the outcome of this appeal.
