Unprecedented: Speaker Regier Blocks Montana Citizens from the House Gallery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 27th, 2023

CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org

Helena, MT – There appears to be no limit to the lengths Montana Republicans will go to strip away our rights. After banning Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-Missoula), a duly elected Montana Legislator, from the floor of the House and speaking on debates, Speaker Matt Regier (R-Kalispell) has doubled down on his anti-democratic crusade and taken the unprecedented step of banning the public  from the House gallery.

“Speaker Regier’s cowardly step to block the press and the Montana public from the proceedings of their government should concern every Montanan,”says Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “The Montana Constitution enshrines our right to know what our government is doing – banning the public from the House Gallery is not only cowardice it is deeply unconstitutional. There appears to be no limit to the lengths the Montana Republicans will go to strip away our rights.”

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