Montana State Auditor and Commissioner of Securities and Insurance James Brown issued a statement following the Montana Supreme Court’s dismissal of a complaint filed against Attorney General Austin Knudsen, calling the decision a reaffirmation of constitutional principles and the separation of powers. In his statement, Brown said the court’s ruling confirmed that the complaint was Read More…
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines joined Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., in leading a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice urging the agency to adopt Congress’s intent behind a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that eliminated the $200 National Firearms Act excise tax on certain firearms and accessories. In the letter, the lawmakers Read More…
Prosecutors in the Montana Attorney General’s Office filed official misconduct charges against state Sen. Jason Ellsworth, alleging he acted outside the scope of his lawful authority as a public servant and improperly handled a state contract. Prosecutors also asked the court to suspend Ellsworth from office pending final judgment. The charges stem from a Montana Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen will lead the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) into what the group calls the most consequential election year in its history. Knudsen was unanimously elected chairman by his GOP attorney general colleagues on Tuesday, putting the second-term Montana Republican at the helm as the organization prepares for 30 attorney general Read More…
HELENA — The Helena City Commission says it wants to take a closer look at new ways to address homelessness in the community – including a proposal to build a new temporary shelter. During an administrative meeting Wednesday, commissioners heard about the growing impact homelessness is having and some possible responses. “The question is how Read More…
BILLINGS – At some places around the country, people can be excluded from events, employment, and buildings for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine. That can not happen in Montana because House Bill 702 prohibits discrimination against those who have not been vaccinated. The bill passed by the Montana Legislature this year covers many vaccines and has caused Read More…
Students are returning to fall classes at Montana Universities at a time when COVID cases are increasing. Mask mandates are now in place at Montana’s two largest universities. Two days after classes began at Montana State University in Bozeman, mask guidelines for inside classrooms changed from a recommendation to a mandate. The university had previously Read More…
MISSOULA — Montana’s two senators are blasting the Biden Administration, with the latest announcement that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is extending the closure of the Canadian border now until Sept. 21. While vaccinated Americans have been able to enter Canada since Aug. 9, the same isn’t true for southbound traffic. The DHS order keeps the gates Read More…
(The Center Square) – As demand and scarcity drive property values up, Montana’s property tax structure may get a second look. Attorney and former Montana state lawmaker Matthew Monforton is proposing an “acquisition-value” property tax system, the Missoula Current reported. Such a system would keep property taxes from inflating along with market property values by Read More…
President Joe Biden should keep Jerome Powell at the helm of the Federal Reserve for another four years to build confidence in an improving economy that still faces significant risks, Sen. Steve Daines said in a letter to the president on Thursday. “Changing the top leadership at this sensitive time could foster uncertainty across the financial Read More…
HELENA — Democrat Steve Bullock had an oversized influence on the Montana judiciary during his eight years as governor, appointing 28 judges and justices – half of the state’s entire judiciary. In part, that influence led to a controversial change this year in how the Montana governor can fill judicial vacancies. READ FULL STORY
If Montana voters approve a Referendum on HB273 (Rep. Skees’ attempt to expedite nuclear development in Montana), the 1978 Nuclear Vote Initiative will once more be Montana law. The referendum asks Montana voters to repeal HB273 for five reasons: In 1978, Montana voters approved Initiative-80, “Nuclear Vote” by 65% to 35%. READ FULL STORY
Montana Senate President Pro Tempore Jason Ellsworth of Hamilton has been charged with three misdemeanors, including obstruction of a peace officer, after he was pulled over for speeding in a construction zone in May. The officer reported a verbal altercation with Ellsworth in which the senator claimed he was exempt from arrest because he was Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont., on Wednesday introduced a bill to crack down on Big Tech and online platforms’ ability to “discriminate against users based on their political speech and beliefs.” The bill would enforce equal access to political candidates on online platforms as well as create a provision to prohibit the removal of content Read More…
Republican senators are ramping up pressure on President Biden to withdraw Tracy Stone-Manning’s nomination for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) director, citing her link to an eco-terrorist plot and her apparently misleading answers to senators about it. Every Republican on the Senate Energy Committee signed a letter Wednesday urging Biden to pull Stone-Manning’s nomination. “Ms. Stone-Manning has made false and misleading Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Cora Neumann has announced a run for Montana’s new U.S. House seat, becoming the third Democrat to join the race. Neumann is a public health expert from Bozeman. She told the Montana State News Bureau this week she would fight for good jobs and wages in Congress. READ FULL STORY
MISSOULA — Senator Jon Tester says the U.S. has been living “off our parents and grandparents infrastructure too long”, and it’s time to pass a bipartisan infrastructure package worth as much as $1.2 trillion. He’s hoping Montanans will jump on board to convince Congress to approve the deal. READ FULL STORY
BILLINGS — The question of whether to allow seven types of marijuana businesses into the Billings city limits could be up to the voters again in an election on Nov. 2, after the City Council directed staff on Tuesday to research ballot language and dates to bring back at a future meeting. Billings Assistant City Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court announced on Tuesday it will issue a final ruling on the Legislature’s subpoenas, rejecting GOP lawmakers’ request to dismiss the case. The state high court is moving forward with the case because justices say the dispute over Legislative powers is a relevant issue likely to come up again. READ FULL STORY
BOZEMAN — It was the last school board meeting of the academic year in Bozeman – and it surely went out with a bang, going on for hours. The meeting was the first in-person in almost a year, and administrators heard from dozens of people who showed up to express their concern, mainly to talk Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Billings City Council will vote on the Public Safety Mill Levy at the meeting on June 28. If it passes City Council, Billings Voters will vote on it at the general election in November according to Council Member Penny Ronning. The Billings City Council meeting starts on June 28 at 5:30 p.m.. A Read More…
Montana’s first congressional redistricting in four decades provides House Democrats with an unlikely offensive opportunity after years of futility. The party’s nine Senate and governor race victories over the past 20 years always failed to translate down-ballot to the statewide contest for the lone House seat. That could change with the addition of a second Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter announced in a video several days ago that he plans to run for re-election – but unlike the 2018 election, which he won as a Democrat, this time he plans to run as a Republican. Slaughter defeated incumbent Bob Edwards in the 2018 Democratic primary; Slaughter then Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Representative Matt Rosendale released a statement in response to an announcement that the Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to offer transgender veterans gender confirmation surgery. The following is Rep. Rosendale’s statement: “President Biden and Secretary McDonough advocating for taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries is an absolute disgrace. The VA should be focused on Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. — President Biden’s nominee to oversee federal lands in the U.S. West is facing Republican pressure to withdraw over her ties to environmental activists convicted of spiking trees to sabotage a national forest timber sale more than 30 years ago. U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, the ranking Republican on the Senate energy committee, said Read More…
WASHINGTON – Senator Mike Braun, Senator Steve Daines, and Senator James Lankford’s amendment to the Endless Frontier Act that would make it a crime to engage in chimera research, or the creation of animal-human hybrid organisms, received a vote on the Senate floor tonight. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey introduced the original legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. READ FULL Read More…
HELENA — Montanan Tracy Stone-Manning, nominated to head the U.S. Bureau of Land Management under President Biden, faced some pointed questions Tuesday from Republicans at her Senate confirmation hearing. GOP senators – including Montana’s Steve Daines – grilled Stone-Manning about her past positions on natural-resource development on federal lands, suggesting she would be an opponent Read More…
KALISPELL, Mont. – Negotiations are on the table between the nurses’ union and hospital administration. However, a separate group’s formed and is looking to end the nurses’ relationship with its current union, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW. The group, formed on Facebook, is called Nurses and Community Unite. As of now, the Facebook group has 101 members. On June 1, they Read More…
Montana will be getting a second seat in Congress. The lines for the two new districts will soon be drawn. On top of that, the lines for state legislative districts will also be drawn. The big battles on both of those fronts have not really yet begun, but some of the battle lines are now being Read More…
A member of Montana’s House of Representatives resigned his seat late last month to accept an appointment to the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole, even after an attorney for the legislature questioned the constitutionality of the move, a Montana news outlet reported. Republican Rep. Jimmy Patelis of Billings announced May 23 on social media Read More…
There’s two stories taking place with the hospital in Kalispell this week. The first big story is the fact that nurses affiliated with the SEIU union are in the middle of a three day strike. The other big story is that several nurses do not support the SEIU and have now filed a petition to break ties with the Read More…
HELENA — Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on federal Covid-relief funds in Montana – which will top $7 billion. While the 2021 Montana Legislature has left town, one of its biggest projects is just getting under way: The distribution of more than $1.6 billion of federal Covid-relief funds, from the Read More…
HELENA — Former U.S. Interior Secretary and GOP Congressman Ryan Zinke told MTN News on Thursday that he’s running for Congress in Montana in 2022 – in whatever district he lives in, after lines for new districts are drawn in the state. “We’ll see what the (redistricting) commission decides,” he said in an interview. READ Read More…
HELENA — A new Montana law effectively removes the attendance requirements for a child who is not in public school to participate in a school district’s sports or other extracurricular programs. On April 28th Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 157 into law, which prohibits school districts from excluding private and home school students that Read More…
Montana this month ended its relationship with a law firm that has deep ties to the Democratic Party, a victory for conservative legal figures pushing other red states to stop doing business with the firm. The firm, Motley Rice LLC, has a healthy portfolio of red state clients, even though its partners have long histories Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — A Missoula woman’s Freedom of Information Act request for emails about a temporary safe outdoor space reveal county officials have been discussing another location for a potential homeless camp. In November 2020, county officials and community partners opened an outdoor shelter to help the homeless during the pandemic, but some residents have been Read More…
Nineteen Republican state attorneys general on Monday urged President Joe Biden to reverse his cancelation of the Keystone XL pipeline project following the recent cyberattack of the Colonial Pipeline that created fuel shortages on the East Coast. In a letter led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, the group pointed to Biden’s own relaxing of environmental Read More…
Lincoln County Commissioner Mark Peck is stepping down effective June 4 to take a new role with the Lincoln County Port Authority. Libby’s representative to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, Peck described his decision to resign after about six-and-a-half years “a bittersweet thing.” Upon his formal departure from the board, he will assume his Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court has denied the Montana Legislature’s effort to disqualify the Supreme Court Justices, stating that ‘were the Court to succumb to the Legislature’s request and evade our responsibilities and 16 obligations as a Court, we are convinced that public confidence in our integrity, honesty, leadership, and ability to function as the highest Read More…
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Thursday signed into law a package of legislation containing more than $500 million to fund infrastructure projects across the state. That’s mostly in addition to hundreds of millions of dollars that will be flowing into Montana from the federal American Relief Plan Act (ARPA). Most of that money was Read More…
HELENA — In the escalating battle between leading Republicans and the Montana judiciary, Attorney General Austin Knudsen has asked that all seven justices of the Montana Supreme Court disqualify themselves from deciding the legality of legislative subpoenas seeking internal documents from the court. Knudsen, a Republican, filed the motion late Friday, saying the justices have Read More…
A bill that would give Montana officials the power to license and regulate pharmacy benefit managers — the middlemen that negotiate drug prices and determine which medications are covered by health insurers — is headed to Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk. Proponents say the measure would shine a light on a powerful yet obscure part of Read More…
HELENA — A day after the Montana Legislature wrapped up its 67th session, Gov. Greg Gianforte and Republican leaders from the House and Senate held a news conference, highlighting what they saw as their top achievements. This was the first legislative session in 16 years with a Republican in the governor’s office, and the Republican majorities Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court will proceed with a full bench to consider a challenge to a new law that allows the governor to appoint judges and justices to court vacancies. An order filed Tuesday says Judge Matthew Wald from the 22nd judicial district in southeast Montana will substitute for Chief Justice Mike McGrath, who has Read More…