FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28th, 2019

HELENA – Following the 66th Session of the Montana State Legislature, Montana Conservation Voters today released its 2019 Legislative Scorecard highlighting the work of elected leaders in protecting Montana’s clean air, clean water and public lands.

MCV’s 2019 Legislative Scorecard is available online at mtvoters.org/scorecard.

More than half of all Montana legislators received failing scores of less than 50 percent. And rather than leading the fight against climate change, legislators voted to allow a corporate bailout of the Colstrip plant, to weaken the Renewable Portfolio Standard and voted against an energy efficiency program for small businesses.

Montana Conservation Voters scored nine key votes in both the Montana House and Senate to determine its 2019 Scorecard. The scorecard also determines lawmakers who earned spots on MCV’s Honor Roll and Dishonor Roll.

Despite the lack of leadership from most of Montana legislators to stand up for conservation values, a significant number of champions held the line against dangerous legislation. Forty-six of the 150 state legislators scored a perfect 100 percent, siding with future generations over special interests. Those legislators played a pivotal role in advocating for proactive conservation measures, like passing a successful bill to increase funding for state park and trails.

“We are very fortunate to count on the strong and courageous leadership of several lawmakers in the Montana Legislature who are 100 percent aligned with our mission of protecting clean air, clean water and public lands,” said MCV Executive Director Aaron Murphy. “But we have a lot of work to do when it comes to public accountability for all other elected leaders. We are watching them closely and we will be educating Montanans accordingly.”

CONTACT
Whitney Tawney
Montana Conservation Voters
Whitney@mtvoters.org, (406) 254-1593

###Montana Conservation Voters is a statewide membership organization serving as the political voice of Montana’s conservation and environmental community.