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GOP furious after seeing Schweitzer
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON
Gazette State Bureau
HELENA - Republican legislative leaders were furious at Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Wednesday when he turned a meeting they requested into a 25-minute filibuster without letting them get a single word in edgewise.
A frustrated Schweitzer spent much of the meeting criticizing Republicans in the evenly divided House for not supporting some of his top priorities. These included bills to offer tax breaks for attract movie and television productions to Montana, promote ethanol production, strengthen the state's stream-access law and fund a commission to find waste in state government.
Without asking the Republican leaders what they wanted to talk about or if they had any reaction to his comments, Schweitzer abruptly terminated the meeting.
"So again thank you very much,'' he said. "I appreciate the opportunity. I have a meeting at 8 o'clock. We'll see you later.''
With that, he rose and walked out of the room, leaving irate Republicans sputtering.
"It's good dialogue,'' said Senate Minority Whip Corey Stapleton, R-Billings, sarcastically.
Although Schweitzer ran last year on a ticket with Republican Sen. John Bohlinger as his running mate and touted their mutual goal for bipartisanship, the Democratic governor's relationships with Republican leaders and vice versa - have turned increasingly rocky in recent weeks.
At a press conference after the meeting, Republican leaders said Schweitzer never gave them a chance to talk about the issues they wanted, nor to explain to him their objections to some of his key proposals. Asked why they didn't speak up to Schweitzer to voice their views, Rep. Pat Wagman, R-Livingston, said Republicans respect the governor's office and felt it would be rude to interrupt him.
"We went down there to have a legitimate discussion about issues and about what's going on in Montana,'' said House Republican Leader Roy Brown of Billings. "And what we got was showmanship. We were not allowed to speak. We were not asked any questions. We were just told to come there and listen to his show. That's just not right."
Senate Minority Leader Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, said, "We went down there for 25 minutes and listened to him rant and have a 10-year-old temper tantrum. To me, it's sad. I really wonder if he wants to be governor. This is an inconvenience for him and he's finding out that it's a very difficult job.''
Interviewed later, Schweitzer expressed surprise that the GOP legislators hadn't said anything at the meeting. He said he mentioned most of them by name to give them an opening to talk.
"They all just sat there,'' he said. "I didn't know why they didn't step in with anything.''
Republican leaders said they sought the meeting with Schweitzer to talk about what had happened in the battles in House Appropriations Committee over the state budget that is about $121 million over the state spending cap. They also had complaints that Schweitzer was bullying freshmen GOP legislators by threatening to campaign against them if they didn't support some of these measures.
Schweitzer told them he would continue to meet individually with legislators from both parties and denied bullying them. But he said he will let people know when a legislator who pledged to support something in a campaign votes against it in the Legislature.
And Schweitzer said he will continue to fight to pass his agenda, which he believes most Montanans support.
"They're all big boys and girls,'' he said later. "They got here because they are able to pick up a ball and run with it.''
In his meeting with the GOP leaders, Schweitzer said each legislator has a responsibility to represent his or her district, while those statewide elected officials like him have a duty to represent all 100 House and 50 Senate districts.
"I will continue to meet with individual legislators, and I am meeting with the folks back home as well,'' he told the Republicans.
Local voters didn't give their legislators a mandate to go to Helena and represent the interests of their political party, Schweitzer said.
Senate President Jon Tester, D-Big Sandy, who also sat in on the meeting with Schweitzer and the Republican leaders, said, "I thought the governor had some stuff he wanted to get off his chest. He's showing some of the frustration he's got with the partisan games.''
Tester predicted the next meeting between Republicans and Schweitzer is "really going to be the test.''
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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By CHARLES S. JOHNSON
Gazette State Bureau
HELENA - Republican legislative leaders were furious at Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Wednesday when he turned a meeting they requested into a 25-minute filibuster without letting them get a single word in edgewise.
A frustrated Schweitzer spent much of the meeting criticizing Republicans in the evenly divided House for not supporting some of his top priorities. These included bills to offer tax breaks for attract movie and television productions to Montana, promote ethanol production, strengthen the state's stream-access law and fund a commission to find waste in state government.
Without asking the Republican leaders what they wanted to talk about or if they had any reaction to his comments, Schweitzer abruptly terminated the meeting.
"So again thank you very much,'' he said. "I appreciate the opportunity. I have a meeting at 8 o'clock. We'll see you later.''
With that, he rose and walked out of the room, leaving irate Republicans sputtering.
"It's good dialogue,'' said Senate Minority Whip Corey Stapleton, R-Billings, sarcastically.
Although Schweitzer ran last year on a ticket with Republican Sen. John Bohlinger as his running mate and touted their mutual goal for bipartisanship, the Democratic governor's relationships with Republican leaders and vice versa - have turned increasingly rocky in recent weeks.
At a press conference after the meeting, Republican leaders said Schweitzer never gave them a chance to talk about the issues they wanted, nor to explain to him their objections to some of his key proposals. Asked why they didn't speak up to Schweitzer to voice their views, Rep. Pat Wagman, R-Livingston, said Republicans respect the governor's office and felt it would be rude to interrupt him.
"We went down there to have a legitimate discussion about issues and about what's going on in Montana,'' said House Republican Leader Roy Brown of Billings. "And what we got was showmanship. We were not allowed to speak. We were not asked any questions. We were just told to come there and listen to his show. That's just not right."
Senate Minority Leader Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, said, "We went down there for 25 minutes and listened to him rant and have a 10-year-old temper tantrum. To me, it's sad. I really wonder if he wants to be governor. This is an inconvenience for him and he's finding out that it's a very difficult job.''
Interviewed later, Schweitzer expressed surprise that the GOP legislators hadn't said anything at the meeting. He said he mentioned most of them by name to give them an opening to talk.
"They all just sat there,'' he said. "I didn't know why they didn't step in with anything.''
Republican leaders said they sought the meeting with Schweitzer to talk about what had happened in the battles in House Appropriations Committee over the state budget that is about $121 million over the state spending cap. They also had complaints that Schweitzer was bullying freshmen GOP legislators by threatening to campaign against them if they didn't support some of these measures.
Schweitzer told them he would continue to meet individually with legislators from both parties and denied bullying them. But he said he will let people know when a legislator who pledged to support something in a campaign votes against it in the Legislature.
And Schweitzer said he will continue to fight to pass his agenda, which he believes most Montanans support.
"They're all big boys and girls,'' he said later. "They got here because they are able to pick up a ball and run with it.''
In his meeting with the GOP leaders, Schweitzer said each legislator has a responsibility to represent his or her district, while those statewide elected officials like him have a duty to represent all 100 House and 50 Senate districts.
"I will continue to meet with individual legislators, and I am meeting with the folks back home as well,'' he told the Republicans.
Local voters didn't give their legislators a mandate to go to Helena and represent the interests of their political party, Schweitzer said.
Senate President Jon Tester, D-Big Sandy, who also sat in on the meeting with Schweitzer and the Republican leaders, said, "I thought the governor had some stuff he wanted to get off his chest. He's showing some of the frustration he's got with the partisan games.''
Tester predicted the next meeting between Republicans and Schweitzer is "really going to be the test.''
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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