"Our tax relief plans include capping a family’s property tax burden at a minimal portion of their household income; passing a homestead exemption for a family’s primary residence; and expanding the elderly homeowner and renter credits. We’re also partnering with stakeholders to reduce dependency on property tax revenue for schools and local government..."

Read the full editorial for more about priorities housing, childcare, healthcare, reproductive rights, and more. 

The amendment is a major component of GOP legislation this session that would reshape the judicial branch, an effort born of an ongoing fight between Republican lawmakers and the courts. Democrats criticized the bill as a partisan power grab that would take away the voters’ right to select Supreme Court justices.

“I struggle to understand why we would consider advancing this proposal that would take power away from the voters and bring that power into this building, to the governor, and to the Senate [which confirms judicial appointments],” Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, said.

"House Bill 280, sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, aimed to offer a state income tax credit to homeowners making up to $130,000 a year to reimburse them for a portion of their property tax bill. It would also have let renters claim a credit for a portion of their rental bill assumed to be attributed to property tax..."

“Climate change is real, and we need to be factoring that in to all the decisions that we make as a state,” Karlen said. “So I’m disappointed when the legislature chooses to purposefully bury its head in the sand. With MEPA, we should be putting climate at the forefront if we’re thinking about the long-term health of our economy and the health of my constituents.”

"We invite the governor to visit our districts and ask mobile home park residents if they deserve 60 days’ notice before their rent is raised; ask the folks who drive county roads every day whether the state should chip in for maintenance; ask the Montanan whose mom has Alzheimer’s what they’ll do if the nursing home closes; and ask the fifth-grader how she’ll pay her school lunch debt. And when Gov. Gianforte goes out to dinner, he might ask the server which one of them should pay a higher state tax rate".

A bill favored by workers' compensation insurance companies went down in a landslide in the House, failing to pass second reading 10-90 after lawmakers from both parties panned the measure. The bill sought to shift the burden of proof in workers' comp claims to injured workers, limit the effect of testimony by the patient’s doctor and allow insurance companies to use their prior medical history as evidence. Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, said the bill would also remove penalties for insurers that don’t make a timely determination on a claim. “So while the injured worker is trying to put food on the table, the insurance company can just delay, delay, delay with no penalty,” Karlen said.

“About one-third of Montanans are renters. In Missoula County it's more than 50%,” Karlen told members of the House Appropriations Committee in Helena this week. “We believe it's really important to include renters as part of any property tax rebate. Renters have absorbed a large portion of our property tax increases. Landlords pass that increase on to renters.”

Karlen described his bill (House Bill 258) as a tax rebate that would “provide much-needed relief for Montana families and do so in a targeted manner." It would provide a rebate of up to $650 on a primary residence and is capped at 130% of a county's area median income.

Democratic Rep. Jonathan Karlen is sponsoring a resolution that would require a committee of lawmakers to study the site of the former Smurfit-Stone pulp mill along the Clark Fork River. Karlen represents the district that includes the site and its hundreds of acres of contaminated waste ponds.

“I think the state can have a really important role in making sure that our priorities, and the community’s priorities, are being heard and recognized by the EPA,” Karlen said.

Democratic Rep. Jonathan Karlen is sponsoring a resolution that would require a committee of lawmakers to study the site of the former Smurfit-Stone pulp mill along the Clark Fork River. Karlen represents the district that includes the site and its hundreds of acres of contaminated waste ponds.

“I think the state can have a really important role in making sure that our priorities, and the community’s priorities, are being heard and recognized by the EPA,” Karlen said.

Missoula Democratic Rep. Jonathan Karlen told fellow lawmakers on the Environmental Quality Council that the state has a major role to play in the Superfund cleanup of the Smurfit-Stone site. The Legislature earlier this year approved Karlen’s bill to study how it could get involved. “We want a thorough cleanup and we want a timely cleanup,” Karlen said. “But, what that looks like — right now, we’re sort of at a crossroads.”

“I heard a caller mention cutting taxes on Social Security income,” began Karlen. “This is actually a bill that I supported to give seniors a tax cut and particularly to try to help people with a fixed income cope with the higher cost of living."

Karlen Working on Housing and Property Tax Issues

“I have a bill right now to try to help with some of the housing issues we're seeing in Missoula by cutting some red tape around permit fees and permit review, which will help get permits to build homes and businesses approved faster, and try to make some progress in addressing our housing crisis..."

"As members of opposing parties in the Montana House of Representatives, we represent different communities and sometimes disagree passionately. But we’ve been proud to find common ground to provide urgently needed legal protections for tens of thousands of Montanans who live in mobile home parks."

Opponents view it as an unethical shortcut to avoid responsibility, adding that the contract partner has problems of its own... “Spending millions of dollars sending Montanans 1,200 miles away to Arizona is absurd. We’re sending them away from their children, away from their parents, away from their support system, away from their legal counsel to a facility that I’ve never seen. And I question how many of us even know where they are going?” said State Rep. Jonathan Karlen (D-Missoula). “And how are they going to stay in touch with their families? Are their kids going to be able to see their incarcerated parents? Maybe a video call, hopefully? Are they going to be charged for that? To me, this proposal has a lot more questions than it has answers. And I get that that these people that we’re talking about have committed a crime and have been sentenced. They are still human beings. They are still potentially my constituents. They are still Montanans. When we are talking about shipping people off like some Amazon package, I think we really need to evaluate that critically and not make a rash decision.”

Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, is sponsoring House Bill 252. HB 252 would provide students with free mental health screenings for anxiety, depression and suicidality. It would then connect students with mental health professionals as soon as they need them, sometimes within the same day of the screening.

During the debate on the bill, Karlen again referenced a 2020 study conducted by the Department of Public Health and Human Services that showed the youth suicide rate for children aged 11-17 is more than double the national rate. He said the screening program would save lives in cases of suicide risk and it would also help families with other stressors.

“It's about connecting that family with the resources that they need and connecting young people with the resources that they need so that they can grow up to be productive adults in our community. The way I see this is, this is a small investment,” Karlen said.

For years, a group of realtors, builders, legislators, local governments, counties, and municipalities have been working together to create a real plan. Together we developed a comprehensive fix that provides cities and towns with the mechanisms to update their zoning, plan for current and future community needs, and simplify the process for developers. This means that more housing can be built while preserving the right for locals to have their say.

SB 382, the Montana Land Use Planning Act, is the outcome of our efforts. The bill, sponsored by Senator Mandeville and co-sponsored by Senators Bertoglio, Boldman, Brewster, Fern, Friedel, Karlen, Hertz, and Hopkins, updates Montana’s zoning and planning process so that housing decisions can be made faster and with more consistenc

During a Wednesday afternoon hearing on HJ 18, bill sponsor Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, said he sees the resolution as a way for the state to receive up-to-date information on the site’s status — it’s not currently a Superfund site, but is in the funnel to potentially become one, he said — and communicate impacted residents’ concerns and preferences.

A couple of Missoula lawmakers, Rep. Jonathan Karlen and Rep. Bob Carter, spoke with the students after the vote... “I think the closing of the gallery is a really sad symbol,” Karlen said. “To me, it furthers the undemocratic nature of everything that’s happening. “I welcome the public to fill the gallery. I trust Montanans to be able to watch our House floor proceedings … and I’m sorry that the speaker doesn’t.” He also said he comes to the Capitol early and ready to work and leaves late, but the House floor sessions have been canceled so he can’t do his job. Instead, he said they voted to ban someone from her workplace. “They did nothing but make political points by doing what they did today, and nothing was actually accomplished for Montana,” Karlen said.

"Rep. Jonathan Karlen) passed an incredibly important renters' rights bill for mobile home renters that will make a huge difference," said House Minority Leader Kim Abbott...

Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, also brought an amendment, which he said built off the same idea that Regier and Galloway touted – that the larger cities should have at least two commissioners if that would benefit them. Karlen’s proposed map followed legislative district lines and split all seven of Montana’s largest cities, including Butte, so they were each represented by at least two commissioners. He said his amendment would have also created populations in each district more equal than SB109 as written.

“If it advantages cities to split them into multiple districts and this body supports that concept, I think it’s really important that Butte is treated the same as Kalispell and Helena, that Butte doesn’t have less representation than the rest of Montana’s seven largest cities,” Karlen told the House.

Three researchers from the University of Montana hope to help hunters with another daunting task — parsing out mountains of complex and varying regulations that govern who can hunt what, where, when and how. Karlen noted, "If you are a new hunter, you might be in the right place to hunt, but you might be there at the wrong time."

"He [Jonathan] is someone who makes no excuses, takes no time off, and demonstrates an extreme level of dedication to making a positive difference in our community and state. Jonathan embodies the work ethic and determination that has built our communities and ensured our shared successes and well-being.

As someone who manages a small business in Missoula, I know that Jonathan will give his full attention to the needs of his constituents and fight for an economy that works for all Montanans. I hope you'll trust him with your vote."

Jonathan Karlen discusses effective  bipartisanship at the Western Governor's Association Leadership institute. 

"The Jan. 6 insurrection occurred 2,000 miles away, but the political rancor that led to that day’s tragic events has become prevalent throughout the country, including here in Montana.

Last year’s partisan rhetoric year’s partisan rhetoric would make it easy to forget that there’s far more that unites Montanans..."

"Patriotism, I believe, is accompanied by a responsibility to hold our institutions accountable... Here in Montana, let's put the future of our state and nation over partisan politics by working in good faith to strengthen the legitimacy of our institutions."

"Common-sense gun laws will slash the rate and effectiveness of suicides, reduce the deadliness of domestic violence, and make our public spaces safer."