House slams door on reviving gate bill

HELENA — A last-ditch effort stalled in the House on Monday to revive a bill that would give counties the authority to fine people who put up gates across public roads up to $500 a day.

Rep. Tom Jacobson, D-Great Falls, tried to do a blast motion to bring his House Bill 295 to the floor after it had stalled in the judiciary committee. A blast motion is a way for lawmakers to get a bill that has been tabled to the floor, but it takes 60 votes in the House to do so. In the Senate it’s a simple majority.

The bill would allow the county to increase its current fine of $10 a day to $500 a day for people who place a gate over a county road, if the fine is approved by a judge.

“You know how important it is for the people of Montana to have access to public land,” Jacobson told colleagues.

The motion failed 48-51, with some members of the judiciary committee saying they believed courts were already able to handle such disputes.

Rep. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, said he voted against the bill in the House Judiciary Committee Feb. 13.

He said the law now is that the road is considered private until proven public. The bill would shift that from the road now considered public until proven private.

Rep. Zach Brown, D-Bozeman, urged colleagues to bring the bill to the floor for a “good debate.”