Billings City Council Implements Two-Hour Meeting Limit Amid Free Speech Backlash
The Billings City Council has instituted a strict two-hour time limit on upcoming work session meetings, prompting strong opposition from local activists who argue the rule curtails public participation.
BAIR Argues Midday Meetings Lock Out Working Residents
Lain Dorsey, a member of the Billings Alliance for Immigrant Rights (BAIR), attended the Monday meeting to speak against the new scheduling restriction. Dorsey argued that shifting unaddressed public comments to midday on weekdays effectively locks working residents out of local governance. “You cannot roll over the meetings to noon the next day. Do you understand that most people are at work?” Dorsey said during the proceedings.
The activist group characterized the measure as an infringement on constitutional rights, noting that public commentary on non-agenda items routinely occurs near the end of council gatherings. “We saw that as an attack on free speech because there’s a lot of working people who can’t be there during the middle of the day, like myself,” Dorsey told KTVQ. Tensions at the Monday session escalated to the point that Billings Police Department officers intervened, escorting Dorsey back to a seat after the meeting twice went into recess and ultimately ran for two hours and 20 minutes.
Council Rationale for Scheduling Changes
Council member Scott Aspenlieder, who proposed the new limit, stated that the vast majority of standard work sessions routinely drag past the two-hour mark. “Seventy-five percent of work session meetings exceed two hours,” Aspenlieder said. “I firmly believe that we see a lack of participation in meetings because nobody wants to sit there to wait till their public comment until 9 or 9:30 at night.”
Aspenlieder also pointed to disruptions during the proceedings as a factor in pushing for efficiency. “We had a set of disruptors that were not necessarily there to comment on the business at hand but were more there to demonstrate and obstruct our ability to do our work,” Aspenlieder said, specifically referencing the presence of BAIR members.
Council Will Vote on Permanent Time Limits in January
The Billings City Council is operating the new time limit as a voluntary test run through the end of the year. Members will evaluate the policy and vote in January on whether to adopt permanent time limits for future work sessions. BAIR representatives confirmed they intend to return to city chambers in January to formally contest the permanent adoption of the rule. “We will be back to oppose that again,” Dorsey said. “Everybody should have access to these meetings.” Previously, BAIR used an August city council meeting to urge local leaders to keep U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of Billings and establish the municipality as a sanctuary city.
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