Anti-government organizations, such as the Freemen and militia groups, have essentially turned their backs on government. Yet similar anti-government sentiment beats loudly in the heart of the Montana Capitol -- the state Legislature.

"Last session, it was there, and it was quite shocking," said Ken Toole, director of the Montana Human Rights Network, which has emerged as a watchdog group on anti-government activity. "This time all the same stuff is back, but people have seen it before so it's not as shocking."

Although little of this brand of legislation is successful, committees of the 1997 Legislature find themselves conducting hearings on bills that would create an office to investigate state government abuses, require compensation for property owners who suffer financially from government regulation and revise "home guard" laws.

Other legislation would ask voters if they want the right to reject federal mandates not specifically provided for in the Constitution and if citizens should be granted the right to demand district court judges assemble grand juries.

These bills could be a way to restore people's faith in government, say their sponsors.

But critics contend the proposed legislation promotes the anti-government agenda of militia and Freeman groups and seeks to cure ills that don't exist.

"I think most people want accountability in government," said Rob Natelson, a University of Montana law school professor who champions smaller government through his group Montanans for Better Government.

"The question is how is the best way to achieve it."

Toole contends some of the legislation has nothing to do with accountability. House Bill 510, a bill revising "home guard" laws, he says, is "a thinly veiled attempt to legitimize these private armies called militias."

The bill would expand on a decades-old law that defines "home guard" and would delete portions of the law authorizing the governor to maintain and disband the home guard "in accordance with federal law and regulation."

The bill died in committee.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Matt Brainard, a Republican who represents voters in the town of Florence south of Missoula, did not return telephone calls for comment.

Brainard also introduced a resolution in the 1995 Legislature declaring the right to keep and bear arms is essential for the protection of citizens and the state. This resolution also died in a legislative committee.

Bozeman Republican Sen. Casey Emerson proposed legislation to create an office of "Inspector General" to investigate government misconduct. Emerson, the bill's only sponsor, did not return telephone calls. The bill was shelved by committee.

"If people can't generate some kind of activity to look back into government ... then the people are pretty much at the mercy of what is going on. You need a last resort of some sort," Rep. Jack Wells, a Bozeman Republican, said about the bill.

People have lost some of their interest in government, giving it to bureaucrats and those who make a profession out of government, Wells said. "That's dangerous."

The Human Rights Network lists this legislation and other bills it's particularly concerned about under the heading, "the militia would be proud."

Natelson is sharply critical of the Human Rights Network for its attacks on particular legislators. He compares it to the tactics used by the late Sen. Joe McCarthy in the 1950s when opponents were labeled anti-Communist to discredit them.

"The Human Rights Network does exactly the same thing," he said.

Laws that rein in government are needed, Wells said.

"There are people upset with government. We all understand that and recognize that," he said. "Those bills are a reflection of that concern."

House Bill 325 would amend the state constitution to require district court judges to assemble grand juries when petitioned by people.

The bill, introduced by Brainard, is languishing in the Senate Judiciary Committee after having passed the House.

Rep. Aubyn Curtiss, a Republican from Fortine in northwest Montana, helped sponsor Brainard's bill.

"To me, this is just another consumer protection sort of thing," she said. "It's a way of strengthening our system."

Lewis and Clark County Attorney Mike McGrath testified in mid-March before the Legislature opposing the bill, calling it "the Montana Freeman Relief Act."

Wells is also among the bill's sponsors. "If we'd have exercised grand jury actions, we could have probably avoided some of the Freeman activities in Jordan," he said. Members of the Freeman movement -- a group refusing to recognize much of government's authority -- held federal agents at bay last year, demanding a chance to air their grievances.

Sixteen Freemen surrendered after an 81-day standoff. Only two of them did not face criminal charges that included circulating millions of dollars in bogus checks and threatening to kill a federal judge.

Christine Kaufmann, another activist in the Montana Human Rights Network, shares McGrath's feelings on the bill and said it represents what the Freemen wanted.

"This is exactly the kind of thing they were demanding," she said. Those who have lost faith in government may see this bill as a way to restore that faith, Kaufmann said, but "I think the majority of Montanans, where they have gripes with government, don't think government should be undone."

In addition to the proposed new laws, three resolutions tell the federal government that Montana wants a voice in its destiny.

Brainard sponsored a resolution, asking Congress to carefully study international proposed treaties that could affect state and private property rights.

Curtiss sponsored resolutions asking for a committee to study federal mandates and for Congress to amend President Clinton's decision creating the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in southern Utah.

The 1.7 million acre national monument ties up state school lands, Curtiss said. It also locked up coal deposits that could help give the United States independence from imported oil.

"It just sends a message from Montana that, 'Hey, we don't agree with this. ... This is a state sovereignty issue.'"

"Montana could be next," she said.

State sovereignty is one of many issues championed by militia groups, Kaufmann said. "I think they're playing on that theme that individuals hold dear."

Curtiss speculated that she and other legislators are being targeted unfairly by the Human Rights Network.

"You just have to wonder. Are they who they say they are or do they have some kind of hidden agenda?" she asked.

It's the job of the Human Rights Network to let its members know which legislators are sponsoring bills sympathetic to anti-government groups, says Kaufmann.

"We see (Curtiss') name attached to so many bills that are attached to this movement," Kaufmann said.

Curtiss is one of several legislators scrutinized by the Human Rights Network because "their activities have pointed them out," Kaufmann said.

"I think there is a fear out there that the American dream isn't going to be realized by these people and their children," she said.

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