Initiative To Decide Who Gets To Change Montana’s Laws, Constitution

Call it a meta-initiative. This fall Montanans will vote on CI-133, an initiative to protect the initiative process itself.

A constitutional initiative is a process where citizens can propose changes to their state’s constitution or state law through a petition. This process exists only in 18 states. In Montana, supporters of a petition must acquire 10 percent of the state’s registered voters’ signatures in at least 40 of the 100 legislative districts to appear on the ballot.

CI-133 comes after a series of 20 bills that were proposed during the 2025 legislative session to amend the constitutional initiative process, most of which failed to make it out of committee. Only HB 201, a bill requiring petition signature gatherers to disclose whether they are being paid, passed last year.

Dani Hess, a spokesperson for Montanans Decide, the campaign group behind the initiative, argues the increase in bills surrounding the requirements for a constitutional initiative to appear on the ballot is a “death by a thousand cuts strategy” to prevent initiatives entirely.

Montanans Decide has raised more than $2.5 million to support CI-133, with many of its largest donations coming from progressive-leaning groups like The Fairness Project and American Opportunity Action, two Democratic-aligned dark money groups.

Montana State University political scientist Jessi Bennion agreed the legislature has sought to rein in initiatives.

“Republicans have been trying to chip away at [constitutional initiatives] or trying to ... because it’s the only way right now that Democrats can get things in front of the people,” said Bennion.

But for some concerned about the spread of the initiative process, it is not about partisan politics, but about outside influence.

State Rep. Lukas Schubert, a Republican and sponsor of two of the 20 bills proposed last legislative session about initiatives, said that his bills are not trying to stifle “true grassroot Montana-based” constitutional initiatives. Rather, Schubert argues constitutional initiatives need “common-sense sideboards,” as out-ofstate and foreign groups have funded campaigns to alter Montana’s Constitution.

Schubert points to 2024’s initiative CI-128, which successfully secured the constitutional right to abortion, as an example, noting that the campaign received funding from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a progressive 501(c)(4) that donated millions to liberal-affiliated campaigns across the US in 2024. The fund is often critiqued as a “dark money” group as it’s not required to disclose its donors and has previously received large contributions from Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss.

“If out-of-state individuals can’t vote in our elections, why should they be able to come over here and signature gather? Why should we have paid shills come here and potentially change Montana’s Constitution?” Schubert asked, adding that he finds constitutional initiatives to “rarely, if ever, to be a true, organic, grassroots movement that’s Montana- based.” CI-133 was registered by a campaign group known as Montanans Decide, which has contracted Central House Strategies, a government affairs firm hired to push for the initiative. Central House Strategies is based in Helena and was founded in 2020. They’ve previously been hired by the City of Missoula, Montana Planned Parenthood, Montana Food Bank Network and the Montana Public Health Association, and they carried CI-128, which appeared on the ballot in 2024.

Despite some large out-of-state donors, Hess maintains that CI-133 is Montana citizen-led, pointing out that the petition was submitted by two Montanans and has been endorsed by AFL-CIO, Wild Montana and Montana Conservation Voters.

“Let’s face it, citizen initiatives aren’t always the sexiest thing,” said Hess, who believes the biggest challenge is making sure people know what they are voting on.

In March, Montanans Decide sponsored a poll through outside firm Advance Strategies and found that 68 percent of Montanans support CI133.

“I’m almost positive it’s going to pass,” said Bennion, “I haven’t seen any opposition on this one, it’s kind of flying under the radar.”

Following Bennion’s interview, the Gallatin County Republicans released an oppositional political ad on Facebook and Instagram, arguing CI-133 “weakens the Montana Constitution, circumvents elected legislators,” and “pushes a narrative onto Montanans.”

The ad ran from Sept. 16 to 23, costing the Gallatin County Republicans less than $100.

If the initiative were to pass, Schubert worries that it’ll be nearly impossible to place guardrails on the constitutional initiative process, as the official language of the initiative is too strict, which “will further enshrine” outside groups to interfere with Montana politics.

Bennion and Schubert both maintain that while legislators could try to propose a bill to amend the initiative process, it likely would be struck down by the Montana Supreme Court if CI-133 were added to the Montana Constitution.

“But who knows what political actors in the future will do with it?” Bennion added.