Lawmakers Respond to Idea of Selling Montana to Canada

And they decide not to formally oppose it
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2019 5:00 AM CST
Lawmakers Take Up Issue of Selling Montana
Fire trucks line up outside the Montana state Capitol on July 3, 2013, in Helena, Mont.   (AP Photo/Matt Gouras)

More than 12,000 people have signed a petition calling for the US to sell Montana to Canada for $1 trillion in a bid to pay down the national debt, and on Wednesday, Montana lawmakers formally addressed the proposal. But ... they didn't reject it. As USA Today explains, Rep. Forrest Mandeville, the Republican chair of the state's House Administration Committee, heard about the petition and decided to have "a little fun" with a formal House resolution opposing the sale. "I’m thinking stuff like ... 'Whereas, we don’t know the Canadian national anthem after the first two words," he told the 20-person committee Tuesday. "Some stuff like that." The committee approved a draft of the resolution, but not for long.

Mandeville told USAT on Wednesday that the committee had reconsidered the tongue-in-cheek bill request, and this time it was defeated. Of course, that doesn't mean he's worried: "I don't think anyone really believes there is a snowball's chance in Florida that the US will sell Montana to Canada," he says. The Great Falls Tribune notes that he still has hope for his bill, and would love a full House vote on April 1. (More strange stuff stories.)

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