On the steps of the Montana State Capitol, Governor Greg Gianforte was officially sworn in Monday for his second term as the 25th Governor of Montana. Accompanied by his wife, First Lady Susan Gianforte, the ceremony marked a historic milestone, as Gianforte became the first Republican governor to secure a second term since 1996. Chief Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines has announced his committee assignments for the 119th Congress, taking on influential roles in the Senate Committees on Finance, Foreign Relations, Energy and Natural Resources, and Indian Affairs. These assignments place Daines at the center of critical policy discussions affecting Montana and the nation. “It’s an honor to serve Montanans in Read More…
Kenneth Britton “Britt” Cotter, 48, who was recently elected District Court Judge for Lake and Sanders counties, has been charged with one count of solicitation to commit criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and two counts of attempted criminal possession of dangerous drugs. The Montana Attorney General’s Office announced the charges following a months-long investigation led Read More…
Congressman Ryan Zinke announced that the Senate has passed the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act. The EXPLORE Act is a comprehensive, bicameral legislation package that includes Zinke’s bipartisan Gateway Communities and Recreation Enhancement Act introduced with Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola in May 2023. The bill passed the House in April and will Read More…
The Supreme Court announced Monday it will hear a major Second Amendment case out of New York concerning the right to carry a firearm for self-defense. At least four justices voted to hear the challenge over a state’s ability to deny applications for concealed-carry licenses. The lawsuit was brought by two men who had their concealed permit Read More…
Dash camera footage from Michigan State Police shows a state representative name-dropping Gov. Gretchen Whitmer while he was getting arrested after allegedly driving under the influence. Rep. Jewell Jones, 26, was arrested on April 6 for driving while drunk, resisting arrest, and possession of a firearm while intoxicated, though the video was only recently released. During the arrest footage, Read More…
The Montana Senate has rejected one of Former-Gov. Steve Bullock’s district court judge appointees and advanced another. A third appointee is still awaiting consideration. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee Friday voted to reject the appointment of Judge Michele Reinhart Levine, who’s been a judge in Cascade County since November, when Bullock, a Democrat, appointed Read More…
A day after some Republicans in the Montana House joined with Democrats to kill a controversial bill to allow NorthWestern Energy to purchase more power from Colstrip while cutting out the oversight of the Public Service Commission, Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, introduced legislation that would allow the Attorney General’s Office to investigative “environmental groups.” Ankney Read More…
HELENA — The Montana Senate has signed off on the latest version of the bill to overhaul the state’s recreational marijuana laws. Senators voted 35-15 for House Bill 701 in a preliminary vote Friday. The bill was then sent immediately to the Finance and Claims Committee, which returned it for a final vote on the Read More…
The Biden administration on Tuesday formally threw its support behind a long-shot bid from Democrats to make Washington, D.C., the 51st state. Congress should “provide for a swift and orderly transition to statehood” for the more than 700,000 Washington residents who do not have full voting representation in the House and Senate, the Office of Read More…
BOISE, Idaho — On Friday afternoon, all of Idaho’s living governors showed a united front behind Gov. Brad Little vetoing two bills that would trim an Idaho governor’s powers during an emergency while expanding the legislature’s. In a brief press conference, Gov. Little was joined by former Republican Idaho governors C.L. “Butch” Otter and Read More…
A Republican lawmaker from Northwest Montana has introduced a bill instructing the Montana Environmental Quality Council (EQC) to reanalyze the state’s newly adopted selenium standard, which was set to protect Lake Koocanusa and its fish species from Canadian mining contaminants. The measure by Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby, comes less than a month after the corporate Read More…
MISSOULA — Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill in Missoula on Monday afternoon that’s aimed at expanding trades education across the state. Surrounded by construction workers at the Scheels worksite in the Southgate Mall, the governor addressed Montana’s growing need for trade workers. READ FULL STORY
HELENA, Mont. — The Legislature’s Special Select Committee on Judicial Transparency and Accountability met Monday afternoon to question Montana Supreme Court Justices and the Court Administrator. However, to some committee members’ disapproval, administrator Beth McLaughlin did not show. “I’m disappointed she has chosen not to appear today,” said committee chair State Sen. Greg Hertz, (R-Polson). READ Read More…
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has made it clear that any attempt by the federal government to move illegal immigrants to Wyoming will not be allowed. “I want to state clearly and unequivocally that the State of Wyoming will not participate in relocation or housing efforts of illegal immigrants or unaccompanied minors, and I have made Read More…
Power over Montana’s judicial branch is at the center of a debate over the constitutionality of a new law that gives the governor more options to fill midterm vacancies on the state bench. Senate Bill 140, which Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law last month, eliminated the Judicial Nominating Commission, an unelected body that greatly limited the governor’s nominating power by Read More…
Proposals to amend North Dakota’s constitution would be limited to one subject and would need at least 60% of voters in favor, under a measure proposed for 2022. Leaders of the measure group say the state’s constitution is too easy to amend, citing proposed changes in every election cycle over the last decade. Of Read More…
President Biden has announced that the United States will fully withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, which is, of course, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack that rocked the United States in 2001, leaving hundreds dead and a nation in mourning. Though the Trump administration reached a deal with the Taliban to complete Read More…
The Texas Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prevent local governments from cutting their law enforcement budgets without voter approval. It was the Legislature’s most substantial move yet in a political war over police funding in Texas that was sparked last summer. The in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and fatal police shooting of Mike Ramos in Austin prompted Read More…
HELENA — The administrator of the Montana Supreme Court, at the center of a battle with Republican legislators over the release of internal emails from the state judiciary, has filed a new request asking the high court to block GOP efforts to obtain and disseminate those emails. The filing from Beth McLaughlin Monday evening came Read More…
HELENA — The Montana House has endorsed a bill that would let the public ask for an election to change local health boards’ actions. It’s the latest of a series of bills debated this session that would put boundaries around the authority of health boards and officers. Senate Bill 108, sponsored by Sen. Doug Kary, Read More…
HELENA — In an escalating political battle between Republican leadership at the Montana Legislature and the state’s judiciary, the Montana Supreme Court Sunday quashed a subpoena lawmakers had used to obtain a cache of internal e-mails from the judiciary. In an unusual weekend order, the high court blocked any further release of the e-mails until Read More…
President Joe Biden unveiled a $2.25 trillion jobs and infrastructure plan last month and has promised to seek input from Republican lawmakers on its ultimate design. That courtship begins Monday when Biden and Vice President Harris meet with a bipartisan group of House and Senate members to discuss the proposal. But his administration has already signaled its willingness to push a Read More…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Thom Tillis announced Monday that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and he’ll undergo surgery in North Carolina this week to treat it. The Republican lawmaker said in a statement that his cancer was detected “relatively early” and his “prognosis is good.” Tillis, 60, says his doctors caught the cancer during his Read More…
Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation banning sanctuary cities throughout the state earlier this week. “We are a nation of laws, and immigration laws will be enforced in Montana,” Gianforte said in a statement,” the governor said in a statement. The legislation allows the state’s attorney general to pursue civil action against jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal Read More…
Kelly Tshibaka, an Alaska official who on Monday launched a challenge against Sen. Lisa Murkowski, is backed by former aides to President Donald Trump in a race that could prove a test of his appeal agaist the GOP establishment. Tim Murtaugh, the former communication director for Trump’s reelection campaign, Bill Stepien, Trump’s former campaign manager, Justin Clark, Trump’s former deputy Read More…
President Joe Biden announced his first slate of judicial nominees Tuesday, tapping a diverse pool of 11 candidates for the federal bench. Perhaps the most high-profile name on the White House’s list was Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — a potential Supreme Court pick — whom Read More…
State Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, has announced she’ll run for Idaho Secretary of State in 2022, joining a race that already includes Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane. Current Secretary of State Lawerence Denney told the Idaho Press two weeks ago that he’s probably not going to seek a third term; Denney, like both Souza Read More…
North Dakota’s Senate might revive the question of legalizing recreational marijuana, but through a ballot measure put to voters. The chamber last week soundly defeated a bill to legalize but restrict the drug for recreational use. The 50-page bill, which passed the House, came as an effort by lawmakers to head off a proposed Read More…
The Wyoming Senate voted Monday to pass a bill that would make it illegal to share explicit images or videos without the subject’s consent. House Bill 85 addresses what’s commonly known as revenge porn. As of 2019, Wyoming was just one of four states in the U.S. without any laws concerning the practice. Read More…
HELENA — More than three years into an overhaul of Montana’s criminal sentencing laws, the Legislature is preparing to ask the Corrections Department for extensive reporting on whether rehabilitation programs are working – including a rewritten definition of “recidivism.” “There was a fair amount of frustration that there really hasn’t been good progress made, to Read More…
HELENA — On Monday, Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins has officially announced his intentions to run for re-election. “I want to continue to improve our wonderful home, and make it a better place to live, work, and raise our families – which is why today, I’m extremely honored and humbled to ask for your vote to Read More…
HELENA — One of the most anticipated bills of the 2021 Legislature – the measure containing the Gianforte administration’s proposal to implement recreational marijuana in Montana – was introduced Monday morning. House Bill 701, sponsored by Rep. Mike Hopkins, R-Missoula, would make many changes to the 2020 initiative passed by voters last November, that legalized Read More…
The Idaho legislature voted Friday to close down until early April after a coronavirus outbreak among six members of the state House. The recess, which will last until April 6, comes after five Republicans and a Democrat in the lower chamber tested positive for the virus. Several GOP lawmakers in both chambers have declined to Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — An attorney for the Montana Democratic Party says a bill requested by the Secretary of State’s Office is an attempt to do an end run around the Montana Supreme Court decision that removed the Green Party from the 2020 ballot. Democrats challenged the minor party’s qualification after it was learned the Montana Republican Read More…
HELENA — On Monday, the Montana House met all day to consider just a single bill – but it was a massive one. They held a full day of debate on House Bill 2, the main state budget bill. Lawmakers then endorsed the bill 67-33 in a party-line vote, with Republicans in support and Democrats Read More…
The prospect of a floor vote to overturn a contested congressional race in Iowa has suddenly become a real dilemma for House Democrats’ most vulnerable members. Moderate Democrats are privately squirming over the possibility that they could be forced to choose a winner in the race for Iowa’s 2nd district, where the GOP candidate, now-Rep. Read More…
With backing from Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Senate committee on Wednesday approved a wide-ranging proposal to revamp vote-by-mail laws, including banning the use of drop boxes and taking aim at a practice known as “ballot harvesting.” The bill comes amid efforts in various parts of the country by Republicans to place new restrictions on Read More…
CHEYENNE — Wyoming’s governor urged members of Congress on Friday to back federal legislation that could help speed up carbon capture infrastructure development across the country. Gov. Mark Gordon joined governors in Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Oklahoma in drafting a letter to several lawmakers, urging them to support the SCALE Act, co-sponsored by Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney. The proposed Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Senate rejected an effort to create authority for an Interstate 80 tolling program on Friday, March 19. The Senate defeated Senate File 73 on a third reading vote of 16-13. Sen. Bill Landen (Natrona), who voted on the prevailing side, motioned for an immediate reconsideration of the bill after the third reading vote. Read More…
HELENA — From child-care grants to Covid-19 testing to $1 billion of infrastructure projects, Montana lawmakers this week must mash together the kitchen-sink of spending bills, authorizing as much as $3 billion of federal Covid relief and stimulus funds. A trio of budget panels made recommendations Friday, after just one week of combing through the Read More…
Republicans were in the majority in the Senate and President Trump was in office. As Republicans, we committed to working in a bipartisan manner to deliver needed relief to Montanans and all Americans struggling because of this historic pandemic. We thought President Biden was on board with this mission. He campaigned on a promise of Read More…
North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party Chairwoman Kylie Oversen announced Wednesday that she will not seek a fourth two-year term. Oversen, a Fargo attorney, said she and her now-husband made the decision two years ago that this would be her last term. Oversen in her statement touted numerous successes under her tenure, including the party improving its Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) – The Wyoming Legislature will meet throughout the day on Monday, March 8, 2021. Upon noon recess the House Corporations Committee will hear testimony on bills relating to health orders. The Senate Transportation Committee will continue to hear testimony about an effort to study tolling I-80. That meeting will happen Read More…