Guest column: Rights and freedoms protected during the 2021 session

Montana Republicans protected your rights, liberties and freedoms during the 2021 legislative session. The Legislature focused on Covid-19 and passed laws to protect you from frivolous lawsuits, limit government’s ability to enforce vaccine and other mandates, and prohibit discriminatory shut downs of businesses and churches. The Legislature also passed laws to protect parental rights and medical privacy.

Restrictions were put in place to provide a check and balance on states of emergency. Now the governor can only single-handedly declare an emergency for 45 days before having to get approval from the legislature to continue it. The Legislature also passed laws to strengthen and protect everyone’s constitutional right to religious freedom, 2nd Amendment rights and the right to self-defense.

Laws were passed to reduce your income taxes, simplify tax laws, protect and improve Montana taxpayer rights and reduce business equipment taxes on thousands of Montana small businesses.

New laws enhance election integrity and require voter ID so we can trust the results of election outcomes.

Several laws were also passed to protect unborn children from late term abortions and protect the health and safety of mothers. Ensuring everyone can enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The vast majority of Democrats in the Legislature voted against all of these laws protecting your rights, liberties and freedoms. Montana Legislative Democrats, like other Democrat politicians throughout the country, are focused on forced government mandates, defunding the police, reducing bail and jail time for criminals, and opposing control of our southern border which is leading to more illegal drugs and crime in Montana. Democrat politicians are also focused on reducing parental control of your children’s education along with promoting critical race theory (CRT) and dividing our country by race and class. Democrat politicians continue to promote policies to punish the success of hardworking Americans and raise your taxes.

Because Democrat politicians are losing support in much of the country, they are working hard to federalize our elections, take election control away from states, and eliminate the Electoral College. These actions are intended to move control of our country to a small handful of liberal cities and states. Those proposals would completely erase Montana’s voice in our federal government, yet they are heartily endorsed by Montana Democrat politicians who would sell out Montana for the sake of radical liberal power.

You can count on Montana Republicans to protect your rights, liberties and freedoms along with making sure the taxes you pay are neither excessive nor supporting wasteful big government. You can count on Montana Democrat politicians to do the exact opposite, giving ever more power and money to the government at your expense.

In 2022, vote for individuals who will protect your rights, liberties and freedoms – vote Republican.

Sen. Greg Hertz is from Polson and represents Senate District 6. He is currently serving as chairman of the Montana Republican Legislative Campaign Committee (MRLCC).