The veto and the void

Gov. Greg Gianforte is asking a Lewis and Clark County district court judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging his veto of Senate Bill 442, major bipartisan legislation from the 2023 session that reallocated marijuana tax revenue to conservation and county road projects.

In a recent court filing, attorneys for the governor argued that the question at the heart of the litigation - whether Gianforte vetoed the bill in a way that prevented an override by the Legislature on the last day of the session - is an essentially political issue, not something for the courts to consider at the behest of the...