By Dan Brooks, Billings Chamber of Commerce

One of the Billings Chamber’s public policies is to reduce the cost of doing business in Montana. One expense that can be costly to a business is litigation. Fortunately, Montana’s legal climate ranks pretty well according to the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) Lawsuit Climate Survey, putting our state within the Top 10 at #7.

 It hasn’t always been the case that Montana is viewed in that top tier. In previous ILR surveys, our state was ranked 27th, 34th, and 45th in 2017, 2015, and 2012 respectively. We’ve been climbing the ranks as businesses have slowly shifted perceptions of the fairness and reasonableness of our state’s liability systems.

 To maintain and perhaps increase that favorable perception, the Montana Chamber is putting forward some thoughtful tort reform bills that we are thankful for and will be supporting.

 The first, SB 216, deals with product liability reform. Product liability laws are intended to provide compensation to folks harmed by defective products. However, current product liability law in Montana lacks some reasonable defenses for business. This bill makes a number of common sense changes to protect our Montana manufacturing and retail entities from unfair claims:

* Creates a comparative fault defense that allows product sellers to show that another party contributed to the injury.

* Strengthens product misuse defense and allows product sellers to argue that the product was used contrary to an express warning or instruction included with the product.

* Creates a defense for government safety regulation compliance if the product complied with mandatory government safety regulations and requirements.

* Creates a 10-year statute of repose, with reasonable exceptions, recognizing that most products have a limited useful life and eventually wear out.

* Allows for an innocent-seller defense, protecting retailers that sell products unchanged from manufacturers.

* Adds a no safer alternative defense, allowing the reasonable consideration that there is no safer alternative in existence at the time of sale. 

 The second bill is LC 0932, which attempts to shine a light on the unregulated third-party litigation financing (TPLF) industry. Third-party litigation financing is the investment by hedge funds, wealthy individuals, and sovereign wealth funds in the outcome of lawsuits for a profit.

 Imagine the imperfect hypothetical where Mr. Baggins is suing Bert for property damages caused when Bert irreparably soiled Mr. Baggins’ coat, mistaking it for a handkerchief. Typically, Mr. Baggins and Bert would have their day in court, the dispute would get resolved, and damages recovered. However, let’s assume a TPLF, Oakenshield Capital, wants to get involved and helps fund Mr. Baggins’ suit against Bert in exchange for a share of the recovery. Oakenshield Capital’s interest is in a return on investment, not an appropriate or fair outcome. Are they influencing Mr. Baggins to seek more damages than justified? Or to continue a lengthy legal battle when settlement is best? What is the percentage of winnings Mr. Baggins would owe to Oakenshield Capital? In the event Mr. Baggins loses the suit, will Oakenshield Capital assist Mr. Baggins if he incurs additional costs or penalties? Do Bert or the court even know Oakenshield Capital is involved?

 This bill provides thoughtful reforms that protect consumers from potential predatory practices by TPLFs and increases transparency by:

* Requiring TPLFs to register.

* Limiting interest rates TPLFs can charge to plaintiffs.

* Capping TPLF’s share of winnings from plaintiffs.

* Requiring disclosure to all parties of TPLF involvement.

* Creating TPLF liability for court-order costs/penalties against the plaintiff.

We are grateful for the Montana Chamber’s prioritization of these bills. Passage will help improve the legal climate in Montana for our business community.

House Bill 30

Revise laws relating

   to dangerous drugs

Rep. Denise Baum (D)

   HD 47

   Chamber Supports

This bill enhances penalties for criminals who commit the offense of distributing dangerous drugs, or intend to distribute, while in possession of a firearm, a destructive device, or another dangerous weapon. Often, our law enforcement officers encounter dangerous weapons when dealing with drug-related crimes. This provides an additional tool for state prosecutors and disincentivizes drug dealers from carry weapons. The bill has 15 bipartisan co-sponsors from our local delegation, for which the Chamber is incredibly grateful. The bill was heard in (H) Judiciary on Friday, January 27th.

By Chris Woodward, The Center Square

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has accepted Montana’s petition to delist grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. Governor Greg Gianforte petitioned the federal government to delist in December 2021. 

“After decades of work, the grizzly bear has more than recovered in the NCDE, which represents a conservation success,” said Gianforte in a press release. “As part of that conservation success, the federal government has accepted our petition to delist the grizzly in the NCDE, opening the door to state management of this iconic American species.”

The petition from Gianforte said NCDE grizzly bears are not only “within a distinct population” but have “far surpassed” population recovery goals. Gianforte also said that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is capable of managing the bears. 

“FWP monitors grizzly bears in the NCDE with the best available science and a team of dedicated specialists,” said the governor’s office. “Although grizzly bears in the lower 48 states have remained under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, much of the day-to-day management is done by FWP’s specialists who work with landowners and the public to address conflicts and increase safety and education in bear country.”

In 1975, grizzly bears were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The population of grizzly bears in the continental U.S. was then believed to be in the hundreds. Gianforte’s office said Friday the population in just the NCDE is approximately 1100.

Following a year of records for low unemployment, labor force growth, and total employment, Montana’s unemployment rate fell to 2.8% in December as the state’s total employment and labor force reached an all-time high.

Governor Greg Gianforte said, “Thanks to the hard work of Montanans and our pro-business, pro-growth, pro-jobs policies, 2022 was a year of record-setting economic growth for Montana. In the year ahead, we’ll continue to cut red tape and other unnecessary burdens on small businesses, create good-paying Montana jobs, and invest in our workforce to ensure Montana workers have the skills they need to succeed and thrive.”

Total employment rose by nearly 1,400 jobs in December to a new record high of over 553,000 jobs.

Montana’s labor force also continued its strong growth in December, rising by some 700 workers to more than 568,800, another all-time high.

Montana added 2,800 payroll jobs in December, with broad-based job gains led by the professional and business services and retail trade industries.

Over the course of 2022, Montana set several records for low unemployment, labor force growth, and total employment.

At the start of 2023, total employment is at an all-time high in Montana, having grown by more than 15,300 jobs over the course of the year. Montanans have created nearly 33,500 new jobs since Governor Gianforte was elected. Total employment has grown in Montana in 22 of the 23 months Governor Gianforte has been in office.

Montana’s labor force is also at an all-time high, with thousands of workers rejoining the labor force since the COVID-19 pandemic. Montana’s labor force today is almost 22,000 workers larger than it was pre-pandemic.

Montana’s unemployment rate set new records in 2022, reaching 2.3% in March and April, the lowest level ever recorded. Montana’s unemployment rate has dipped below 3% in just 16 months since recordkeeping began. Fifteen of those 16 months have taken place during Governor Gianforte’s tenure.

Per the U.S. Chamber’s recently released State of American Business, the worker shortage trend is getting worse, with 10.5 million unfilled jobs. For every 100 U.S. job openings there are only 73 available workers. Manufacturing has been a stable economic factor for decades but with the growing skills gap and workforce shortages, innovation is key to sustainability.

Montana Chamber and the Montana Manufacturing Association are bringing together manufacturing leaders, executives, and employees alongside business associations and local chamber members and legislators for Manufacturing & International Trade Day, on March 16, in Helena, 10 am – 7 pm / $75 per person (includes reception

The event features solution-oriented seminars and keynotes from leading industry experts along with a Trade Show.

Registration information is available on the Montana Chamber website.

By Chris Woodward, The Center Square

Montana will no longer allow state funds to go towards environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.

Joining the Montana Board of Investments in his announcement, Gov. Greg Gianforte said recently his administration is committed to getting returns on $26 billion in investments of the state’s financial assets, but it “will not advance a political agenda.”

“As the State of Montana invests its financial assets, our priority is and should always be maximizing returns for our shareholders – the people of Montana,” the governor said in a press release. “On my watch, we won’t undermine taxpayers’ returns on investment in favor of the trend of activist, woke capitalism through ESG investing.”

ESG is defined by Investopedia as a set of standards that socially conscious voters use to screen investments. Critics say investment firms are using “activist” ESG policies regardless of what investors want. 

Stephen Soukup, who’s head of the investment consulting group The Political Forum, applauded Gianforte and the board’s move, saying ESG is a “top-down, anti-democratic, and coercive investment technique that takes power out of the hands of the people’s representatives and hands it to large, centralized multinational asset management firms who should be investing on behalf of their clients’ best pecuniary interests.”

“I think that state executives, treasurers, comptrollers, and pension boards should most definitely be willing to take back control of pension investment decisions from large Wall Street firms,” Soukup told The Center Square.  “The top-down, one-size-fits-all approach of the big firms misses and ignores state and local needs, beliefs, and investment goals and is, therefore, an unfit solution.” 

Soukup, whose books include ‘The Dictatorship of Woke Capital” and the upcoming “Other People’s Money,” thinks there is a lesson here for elected officials across the nation.  

“Governor Gianforte and the Montana Board of Investments are exercising their responsibilities as fiduciaries of the people of Montana,” Soukup said. “More politicians – right, left, and in between – should follow their lead and put the community interests of their constituents ahead of the ideological predispositions of the Wall Street mega-firms.”