Mobilized Communities
- Called over 1,000 voters in 19 key counties asking them to persuade their legislators to support Medicaid expansion.
- Collected and submitted to legislators messages from 1,054 voters from 34 counties in support of Medicaid expansion
- Brought 600 people to the Capitol to rally for Hanna’s Act and Medicaid expansion.
- Supported 80 low-income women and their allies in directly lobbying their elected representatives at the Capitol.
- Created the Medicaid Works: Stories of Coverage, Access, and Improved Health story book to share with Montana legislators. The report provided personal account from caregivers, people in recover, and people with chronic illness about what life-saving access to health coverage means to them and their families.
Developed Leaders
We hosted our 13th Annual Women’s Policy Leadership Institute (WPLI). Montana Women Vote and partner organizations provided sophisticated policy analysis and skills building workshops for 150 people from all over the state.
As a result, participants built skills and gained a better understanding of the following issues:
- the state budget, taxes, and raising revenue;
- legislation that targets low-income people and criminalizes poverty;
- efforts to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women;
- reproductive rights and health;
- LGBTQ equity; and
- food sovereignty and food insecurity.
Created Change
- Led the coalition effort to renew Montana’s Medicaid expansion program, ensuring continued access to health care for nearly 90,000 Montanans. We worked to minimize the impact of harmful requirements on our communities.
- Supported Hanna’s Act and other legislation aimed at addressing the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
- Worked with the ACLU to end Montana’s practice of suspending the driver’s licenses of people who fail to pay court debt.
- Worked with allies to advocate for the creation of Montana’s Community Health Aid Program to increase provider access, improve quality of services, increase training of community-based providers, and alleviate the disparities that exist in the health care of Native Americans.
Our Team
Montana Women Vote’s staff grew this year and we brought together a group of inspiring community leaders to form the Montana Women Vote Advisory Board. We’re expanding our reach into new communities, building deeper and stronger connections, and using our increased capacity to be creative, strategic, and powerful.
Montana Women Vote Staff and Advisory Board. From top left: Kylie Gursky, Iko’tsimiskimaki Beck, Danielle Vazquez, Marita Growing Thunder, SJ Howell, Hannah Pate, Mija, Mariah Friedlander Camel, Jessica Stewart-Kuntz, Rebecca Pettit, Ella Smith