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…
After the 2020 election, legislatures across the country are considering new voting laws. And while no widespread voter fraud has been proven, it has not stopped conservative lawmakers from looking for solutions and new preventive measures. Wyoming is no exception, with its legislature considering a bill that would require a voter to show an ID before voting in-person. A Read More…
President Biden hasn’t held a solo press conference 54 days into office. The president addressed the nation last Thursday after signing the $1.9 trillion spending package and spoke about the country’s progress in defeating the coronavirus. However, he has gone more than seven weeks without holding a press conference, the longest for a president in nearly 100 years. Every president Read More…
Mayor Bill de Blasio called Monday for an investigation into phone calls that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vaccine czar made to county executives across the state — describing them as “the definition of corruption.” “If vaccine supply is being given out for political reasons, that, in many ways, is the single worst thing we’ve heard in all of Read More…
Former state representative Luke Simons won’t go to court over his expulsion from the Legislature. Simons, R-Dickinson, announced his decision Thursday morning in a lengthy statement. “The legislature has effectively disenfranchised the people of my district. Unfortunately, the only way I can immediately correct this injustice is to allow someone else to serve,” he said. Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming currently has a 4% statewide sales and use tax. State law allows local sales and use taxes up to 3% (so-called “fifth, sixth and seventh penny”) additional sales and use taxes. The Wyoming House of Representatives are working on a bill that would potentially make the so-called “fifth penny” tax permanent Read More…
(The Center Square) – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined 11 other state attorneys general on Monday in filing a lawsuit in an attempt to block the Biden administration from unilaterally implementing parts of the so-called “Green New Deal” without Congressional approval. The lawsuit challenges President Joe Biden’s executive order that seeks to impose Read More…
HELENA — On a nearly party-line vote, Republicans in the Montana House Thursday endorsed the first “school choice” bill of the 2021 session, to use public-education funds to help pay some expenses of disabled children who attend private school in Montana. The House voted 68-32 to advance House Bill 329, which sets up an educational Read More…
PIERRE — A Hughes County judge has ruled that a voter-approved amendment to the South Dakota Constitution ending marijuana prohibition in the state shouldn’t go forward. Circuit Court Judge Christina Klinger ruled Monday that Constitutional Amendment A violates the state Constitution on two grounds: It violates the single subject rule, meaning it encompassed more than one Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) – There are only 16 women in the Wyoming State Legislature, as a while the Equality state ranks in the bottom five of the nation for having a diverse state legislature. When it comes to representation in local offices it’s just as bad. Out of the 93 County Commissioners in Read More…
Leaders of the effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday they’ve collected 1.95 million signatures a little more than a week before the deadline, a number they believe will be more than enough to trigger a special recall election. County and state elections officials still need to verify that nearly 1.5 million are Read More…
JEFFERSON CITY — In an announcement that instantly shook Missouri’s political landscape, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt said Monday morning he would not run for reelection in 2022. “After 14 general election victories — three to county office, seven to the United States House of Representatives and four statewide elections — I won’t be a candidate for Read More…
Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., announced Thursday that he and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., formed three screening conferences that will recommend candidates to fill federal judicial openings as well as vacant U.S. Attorney and U.S. Marshal positions in their state. The panels, one for each of Florida‘s judicial districts, will interview and vet candidates and then report their Read More…
Just moments before the filing deadline Wednesday, a 6-foot-7-inch former pro wrestler from Las Vegas unexpectedly appeared at the Texas secretary of state’s office to file for a vacant congressional seat. He said Ted Cruz and the Trump family sent him. READ FULL STORY
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said President Biden “degraded” himself, following comments he made comparing red-state governors to Neanderthal’s. Gianforte explained that hospitalizations are down and Montana is “open for business” during an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” asserting that a “one-size fits all” approach to coronavirus mandates “doesn’t make sense” for the needs of every state. “For a president that called for Read More…
BOISE, Idaho — Legislation to prohibit mask mandates by government entities in Idaho has been introduced. The House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday cleared the way for a potential hearing on the bill put forward by a dozen conservative lawmakers. Republican Rep. Karey Hanks says requiring healthy individuals to wear masks to prevent the spread Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — 14 Wyoming legislators are sponsoring a bill to legalize marijuana in the state. If House Bill 209 were to become law, anyone 21 years or older could legally possess retail marijuana (in amounts explained below) or cultivate marijuana for personal use (also explained below). The legislation proposes imposing a 30% excise tax on the Read More…
The new chairman of the Senate panel that controls military spending says he’s open to arguments against developing a new $246 billion system of land-based intercontinental missiles even though he represents one of three U.S. states with ICBM installations. Senator Jon Tester of Montana, home to Malmstrom Air Force Base and its ICBMs, said in an interview Read More…
Ahead of a Wednesday deadline, Montana lawmakers endorsed one bill and rejected another that aim to increase access to the internet. The House of Representatives reversed course on House Bill 422 Tuesday and voted it down after giving it an initial vote of wide approval earlier this week. The bill would have allowed local governments to operate Read More…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was fighting for his political life on Tuesday after a third woman accused him of sexual harassment. The Democrat has suffered a spectacular fall from grace since he became a national star last year for his handling of the state’s coronavirus pandemic. Many commentators had tipped him for a role Read More…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has seen his star rise over the past year as Republicans look to him as a potential successor to former President Trump. DeSantis’s profile grew early on after he took his cue from Trump by not shutting down his state in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Though Florida has suffered heavy losses from Read More…
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg acknowledged browsing websites on his phone just minutes before the fatal crash last year that has led to bipartisan calls for his resignation or impeachment. In a September 2020 interview with investigators, Ravnsborg acknowledged checking email and news sites on his phone, but maintained he had put his phone down at Read More…
California Governor Gavin Newsom posted a video to his TikTok account with celebrity George Lopez on Saturday. The pair were shown inside a restaurant in an area of California that currently doesn’t allow indoor dining. In the video, Newsom and Lopez talk about where to find information about coronavirus vaccine eligibility in California. At the beginning of Read More…
ALBANY – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday agreed to cede control of an investigation into sexual harassment allegations lodged against him by two former aides, granting Attorney General Letitia James the ability to select a lead investigator after previously resisting calls to do so. Cuomo, a Democrat, had faced increasing calls from elected officials of Read More…
MISSOULA — The nominee to be Montana’s next health director faced an unwieldy disease outbreak and pushed Medicaid work requirements — two issues looming in Montana — when he held a similar job in Kentucky. Montana senators will soon decide whether to confirm Adam Meier, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s pick for director of the state Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte said yesterday he’s happy with the executive team he’s assembled and encouraged with the progress of key measures as the Legislature nears transmittal. “Job one was putting the team together,” he told The Montana Standard in a short interview. “That’s what I’ve done my whole career, organize teams.” “We’ve prioritized Read More…
HELENA – Montana’s Attorney General Austin Knudsen today called on President Biden and his administration to reverse its last-minute cancellation of Operation Talon. Operation Talon is a nationwide ICE operation that focuses on removing illegally present convicted sex offenders from the United States. The cancellation of Operation Talon emboldens sexual predators who seek to enter the Read More…
BILLINGS- In his first sit-down television interview since becoming Montana’s congressman, Republican Matt Rosendale spoke openly about the election, inauguration, insurrection, and a whole slew of other items facing Montanans. The freshman representative spoke with MTN News’ Andrea Lutz Friday at the Billings Public Library after spending the last several days touring areas of eastern Read More…
Rep. Diego Hernandez, a three-term Portland Democrat who’s been embroiled in controversy for months following multiple allegations that he created a hostile workplace for women, told OPB News on Sunday he is resigning, the news organization reported. Hernandez was facing the possibility of being the first legislator expelled from the Legislature in Oregon. A day earlier, Hernandez lost Read More…
The brutal winter storm that turned Texas roads to ice, burst pipes across the state and left millions of residents shivering and without power has also damaged the reputations of three of the state’s leading Republicans. Sen. Ted Cruz was discovered to have slipped off to Mexico on Wednesday night, only to announce his return when he was caught Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Legislature are exploring implementing a tax hike on wind energy production and repealing the three-year tax exemption on new wind turbine projects. House Bill 108 would increase the tax on electricity generated from wind by $1 per megawatt hour starting July 1. The proposed tax hike would generate about $6.5 million Read More…
HELENA – House Bill 102 was signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte Thursday. The bill expands the concealed carry of firearms in public places including college campuses and drew opposition from a variety of Montanans, including the Montana University System. According to the Governor, 20 other states allow gun owners to carry firearms without a government-issued permit. READ Read More…
HELENA — Bozeman state Sen. J.P. Pomnichowski says she began hearing last year from constituents being charged substantial fees just to apply to rent, or even view, an apartment or home in the city’s tight – and expensive – rental market. “I’m not opposed to the idea of collecting a fee to do something like Read More…
North Dakota could be the next battleground for Big Tech, as a new bill has been introduced that would stop Apple and Google from collecting a portion of the revenue from companies using their app stores, The New York Times (NYT) reported. The bill came about when ND state senator Kyle Davison was approached by a lobbyist who pitched the proposal. Davison, who Read More…
Quick Take Senator Cynthia Lummis has been assigned to the Senate Banking Committee. Lummis has been vocally pro-digital assets in both her candidacy and since taking office. Lummis said she plans on forming a Financial Innovation Caucus to educate her fellow senators on emerging financial technologies. The Senate has assigned pro-bitcoin senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) Read More…
The Lincoln Project hired a legal team to investigate allegations of sexual abuse against co-founder John Weaver, the anti-Trump group announced on Monday as it struggles to manage inner turmoil, including high-profile resignations and finger-pointing, that has barreled into the public’s view. “The Lincoln Project has retained the law firm of Paul Hastings to investigate Read More…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday blasted state lawmakers who have threatened to rescind his emergency powers and open investigations into his administration’s coverup of its mishandling of nursing home coronavirus deaths. “You can’t use a subpoena or the threat of investigation to leverage a person,” Cuomo said in a briefing on Monday. “That’s a crime, Read More…
The crown teachers once put on William Shakespeare now lies uneasy upon his head as the English playwright comes under assault from teachers who fault his unwoke attitudes regarding race, sexuality, gender and class. For the new breed of teachers, Shakespeare is seen less as an icon of literature and more as a tool of Read More…
A bill that would decimate Bozeman’s affordable housing ordinance received overwhelming support in the Montana House of Representatives on Monday. House Bill 259 would prohibit local governments from requiring developers to pay a fee that would go to providing homes at specified prices or for people in specific income levels or from dedicating property for Read More…
PIERRE | Gov. Kristi Noem’s proposal to put $50 million toward a need-based scholarship endowment cleared its first test in the Legislature on Monday. South Dakota is the only state without a significant scholarship endowment for low-income students. Noem wants to create a $200 million fund by combining the state money with $150 million Read More…
The North Dakota Legislature has held its regular sessions every other year since statehood, but backers of a bipartisan bill say it’s time to change that. Lawmakers for decades have consistently rebuffed attempts to hold annual regular sessions, arguing that doing so would grow government and turn lawmaking into a full-time job. But advocates Read More…