Senator feels impact of controversy

The Montana Legislature narrowly ratified the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact last week, bringing this phase of a bitter conflict to an end. For Sen. Chas Vincent of Libby, the legislator who spearheaded the compact, the process was physically, emotionally and mentally draining.

“It was a long and arduous, and sometimes ugly path,” Vincent said.

Vincent said the bill was a defining moment for his political career, perhaps because of and perhaps despite the controversy.

“Anything with water is going to be controversial,” he said. “But this was certainly the largest policy decision I’ve ever had the honor of carrying.”

Vincent was one of the compact’s most vocal critics when it came before the Legislature during the 2013 session, a stance he planned to repeat this session. 

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing March 12 he described his change of position.

“The reason that I dove into the deep end of the policy pool, spent over 500 hours, 600 hours, I don’t even know, I spent a lot of time of my life taking these arguments to ground, and I had a lot of them because I really, really, really wanted to beat this thing. And I can’t, I couldn’t. This agreement is good, it’s fair and it’s going to protect existing and future uses. That’s why I sponsored it. It was a leadership moment for me. I took on the job of trying to derail something and found out I had to conduct it when I got to the end.” 

Vincent’s work supporting the compact, while drawing heated criticism from members of his own party, received praise from one of his staunchest political opponents, Governor Steve Bullock.

“Sen. Vincent and I don’t agree on everything,” he said. “He voted against Medicaid expansion and my early childhood education initiative for example. But I appreciate that he doesn’t make disagreements personal, which enables him to work with people all across the political spectrum. He is guided by what he believes is right for Montanans, which is what I hope all elected officials do.”

Vincent is now faced with the unenviable task of defending his decision to his constituents, many of whom are angry and disappointed with his decision. It won’t be an easy thing to do, Vincent said..

“It’s hard to quantify something that didn’t happen,” he said. “Just like it’s hard to quantify the catastrophic wildfire you prevented with good forest management. What we will be able to quantify, though, is what we’ll be able to do moving forward.”

Moving forward means obtaining accurate measurements of water usage to ensure irrigators continue to receive the same amounts of water they’ve had in the past.

“We’ll be out there measuring water to make sure irrigators are getting their historic use,” Vincent said.

One of the most vocal arguments against the compact was the belief by many that it would result in less water being delivered to irrigators. 

Vincent said a great deal of the bitterness stems from a lack of understanding about the compact and what it means to Montanans.

“There’s still a great deal of misinformation being propagated out there,” he said.

Vincent also said the misinformation isn’t limited to the public discourse on the topic. Many legislators, due primarily to the nature of the biennial citizen-legislature model practiced in Montana, don’t have the time or the expertise to delve into the deeper policy topics.

“The institution of the legislature is becoming weaker and weaker,” he said. “Just as new legislators learn how the process works, how to avoid what I call the rabbit trails, they term out and we get a new crop.”

Vincent said it’s not the individual legislators’ faults, there just isn’t enough time for every legislator to read every bill and get up to speed on every issue.

“When this system started in 1968, the state budget was around $100 million. Now it’s about $10 billion. It’s really hard to get your head around that whole thing in just 90 days. There’s just inadequate time,” he said.

Moving forward also means working to heal the wounds from an unusually bitter political battle. Vincent said he’s heard stories of neighbors pitted against each other as a result of this struggle, of relationships shattered.

“I know that there are some unfortunate things happening on the reservation,” he said. “There are people who have lived next to each other for generations and shared driveways that are now arguing about using each other’s property and are now having to redo their driveways. People who sat at the same pew in church every Sunday who now won’t even go to the same church.”

Vincent said he hopes these wounds will close, but added he’s never seen a political battle rip communities apart like this one has. He said the solution to the divisiveness of the issue is time and education.

“The only thing that can help the relationships is time,” he said. “I hope and pray people continue to be curious and interested in what is in the compact.”

In the meantime, the compact still has a few hurdles remaining.

First, it will need to not only be ratified by Congress but also requires the appropriation of the money needed to fund the projects included in the agreement.

Vincent said he has spoken with Rep. Ryan Zinke, Montana’s lone member of the House of Representatives, as well as with staffers from both Sen. Jon Tester and Sen. Steve Daines’ offices.

“Now that the bill is signed, they’re going to have to take up the ball and run with it,” Vincent said.

As a means of encouraging a quick congressional approval, a provision was inserted into the compact giving the governor the authority to back out of the agreement if it isn’t ratified by the tribes and the United States government within four years. Vincent said he is confident no future governor, either Republican or Democrat, would back out of the agreement and plunge the state back into such a bitter and divisive issue.

With just two weeks remaining in the 90-day legislative session, Vincent is looking forward to coming home and getting back to his family and normal life.

“I’m tired,” he said. “Any session is tiring on a legislator, especially those with young families. The compact and the controversy around it have been especially draining. I’m ready to come home.”