My old employers at the Progressive States Network have compiled the results of a few legislative sessions. It's pretty sad to read over as they look at what happened in New Mexico, Washington, Maryland, and then Montana. Those other three states all had progressive leadership and commonsense Republicans. They didn't go crazy and make Islam the state religion or ban the Bible or require that heterosexual couples have abortions prior to entering into compulsory same-sex marriages.
They did things that polling shows Montanans want. They expanded access to health care, set targets to tackle global warming, built up internet access to tear down the digital divide, raised the minimum wage, enacted paid sick leave for families, and strengthened education.
Meanwhile, in Montana, we had a rightwing meltdown that will cost the state tens of thousands of dollars per day for a special session. And that's just counting legislators, not caucus or non-partisan staff, operating costs, or anything else.
