Three Mitchell bills die in House committees

Three bills drafted by freshman legislator Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, are all but dead in the state Legislature this session.

The one that brought the most attention was HJ 11, a resolution that would declare Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.

Antifa is short for “anti-facist” and is a left wing group primarily operating on the West Coast. The bill fell into disfavor, however, after the bill didn’t include any other groups in the U.S. and it was also considered redundant as the state already has anti-terrorism statutes.

It died in the House Judiciary committee.

Another bill, the “suffering wildlife protection act”

which would have allowed a person to shoot an injured game animal within the city limits, say, for example, if it was hit by a vehicle.

The bill actually passed in one vote, but was then tabled in committee.

Currently, the responsibility of dispatching animals that are injured is handled by police. Mitchell said it was a “common sense bill,” and would assure that police officers weren’t taken away from valuable time to kill injured animals.

But opponents said the bill didn’t clearly define injured animal, so, for example, if a deer had a limp, people could shoot it, claiming it was injured. They also had concerns about safety of shooting firearms in an urban setting.

Mitchell also had a bill that would require the

Public Service Commission to take a look at the impacts of coal plant closures. That, too, died in committee.

Mitchell also drafted a bill that would require the state go back to hand counted ballots. That bill was never introduced.

Flathead County election officials said that bill would cost the county at least $40,000 additional to put on an election.