The tourism industry in Montana is booming and it’s easy to understand why. Montana is the best place to explore over a million acres of wilderness filled with glacier-carved terrain, crystal clear rivers, and 400-foot waterfalls all in between breathtaking mountain ranges. The sightseeing alone draws millions to the state every year. During the winter, Read More…

While California may have a population nearly forty times greater than Montana, utility consumers are still subject to the same vulnerabilities. With current technology, the best way to protect utility customers from an energy shortage is through an increase in available, reliable, baseload power.   Out-of-state and foreign interests are applying increased pressure on lawmakers, Read More…

They said it couldn’t be done. A Liberian refugee who escaped a civil war could never be elected to office. And certainly couldn’t do it in Montana.   They do not know Montana. They do not know America. Where if you dream, and if you work hard, anything is possible. I may not look or Read More…

The 66th legislative session is completed. I was humbled by the opportunity to serve the citizens of Flathead County in my first session. Now that the session is over, it is right and proper that I detail for my constituents my observations.   Montana, like America throughout its history, has a two-party political system. Since Read More…

The last time I saw Mark Zuckerberg was in the summer of 2017, several months before the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke. We met at Facebook’s Menlo Park, Calif., office and drove to his house, in a quiet, leafy neighborhood. We spent an hour or two together while his toddler daughter cruised around. We talked politics Read More…

The biggest disappointment of the recent legislative session was the failure of lawmakers to pass a new tax to help fund education. Blame it all on the Senate. Rep. Jerry Obermueller (R-Casper) sponsored a corporate income tax and the House passed it by a wide margin. The upper chamber, however, was too intimidated by big Read More…

Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, who will be term-limited next year, ended speculation about his future a few weeks ago by announcing his candidacy for governor in 2020. What some are still wondering, however, is which party’s banner Fox will ultimately fly. Especially after yesterday. Fox ran as a Republican in his prior AG races Read More…

As speaker of the House, it is a goal of mine to have unity within the Republican Caucus and a positive working relationship with the minority party. At the halfway point of the 66th legislative session, we are hitting those marks. Another goal of this session, was to put the K-12 funding bill on the Read More…

For a decade or more, our Montana Legislature has grappled with the increasing need to renovate both Romney Hall on the Montana State campus in Bozeman and the Montana Historical Society museum facility in Helena.   A compelling case has been made for both these projects, but they have repeatedly come up just short of Read More…

A White House staffer leaked President Donald Trump’s private schedules to Axios on Sunday, and the documents revealed some eye-opening details about the president’s day. For one, Trump spends the bulk of his workdays in “executive time” — unstructured blocks of time that make up 60% of his working hours. According to Axios, Trump spends Read More…

This week the governor gave an address in which he outlined his plan to tax and spend on the backs of working Montana families. He would like to cushion his state checkbook to the tune of $300 million by taking $150 million from Montanans’ checking accounts and putting it into his state checking account. Montanans Read More…

In November, Montana’s voters rejected renewal of the Medicaid-expansion welfare program (hereinafter “MedEx”), consigning its fate to the Legislature in the 2019 session. Even though the subject may sound boring, taxpayers should pay close attention these next few months, since big money is at stake and the program dis-incentivizes work and self-sufficiency.   Medicaid itself Read More…

As former House Speakers and Senate Presidents of the Montana Legislature, we question the wisdom of making significant changes to the rules of operation in the Montana House. Currently, there is a group of legislators trying to change the House rules. One of the proposed changes would allow a simple majority (51 members) to “blast” Read More…

Tuesday’s midterm elections weren’t a slam dunk for either party, not by anyone’s estimation. Democrats managed to avoid another apocalyptic election meltdown and keep their base from flipping out by flipping the House, if barely, and Republicans added slightly to their already slight majority in the Senate. We sent at least three Red State fake Read More…

Would it surprise you to find out that each of the five members of the Montana Public Service Commission makes more than the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State and the State Auditor? These are the current salaries of Montana elected officials. Governor— $111,570 Lieutenant Governor—$86,362 Attorney General—$123,499 Secretary of State— $95,695 Superintendent of Public Read More…

The flames of the Ferguson Fire in California have become the latest symbols of a seemingly perennial challenge of fighting fires in the West. I just returned from the Ferguson Fire camp, where I met with firefighters who are working to combat the fire as it bears down on Yosemite National Park and its visitors, Read More…

Montana Governor Steve Bullock’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) took an unprecedented step last month in its efforts to block the opening of the Rock Creek and Montanore mines in Sanders and Lincoln counties, projects that would create hundreds of jobs for Montana workers. Bullock’s DEQ has opposed Hecla Mining Company’s attempt to open these Read More…

Direct primary care agreements are a fee-for-service contract between health care providers and patients, and are meant to cover preventive, routine or preliminary office visits. Primary care clinics are independent doctors’ offices that do not accept insurance or bill third parties. There have been several of these arrangements made available to consumers in Montana during Read More…

Our country has a great abundance of mineral resources used to manufacture goods of all kinds. For weapons systems and consumer electronics, the value alone is estimated at $6.2 trillion; however, because cumbersome regulations and permitting processes hamper mining, we now rely on foreign suppliers for more than half of our needs. The situation has Read More…

After reading David Brooks’ recent editorial, one thing is clear as a mountain stream: Propaganda will be the chosen vehicle in which Brooks and his supporters deliver Initiative 186 (I-186) to Montana in November. I suppose propaganda is expected in the support or opposition of any ballot initiative. However, the citizens of Montana deserve to Read More…

Montana governor Steve Bullock is the latest Democrat to demonstrate just how out of touch he is with the lives and values of hardworking, everyday Americans. Taking a page from the playbook of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, Bullock has scoffed at the higher take-home pay, bonuses, benefit improvements and lower utility bills resulting from Read More…

When you stand alone, people can ascribe to you a range of qualities — brave, perceptive, crazy, or ignorant, among others. In the case of Sveen v. Melin, Justice Neil Gorsuch took on that role, acting as the lone dissenter in the 8-1 Supreme Court decision. In his lonely stand, Gorsuch sought to breathe life Read More…