South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden has signed five bills into law aimed at supporting agriculture and rural communities, including a measure to expand broadband infrastructure in underserved areas. Among the bills signed was House Bill 1048, which provides an appropriation for the expansion of broadband access, a priority Rhoden said is critical to strengthening opportunities Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen praised the Helena City Commission after it voted Thursday night to rescind its immigration resolution, calling the move the right step to keep the community safe. “The commissioners made the right decision voting to keep the Helena community safe,” Knudsen said in a statement. “This resolution should never have been passed Read More…
The president on Thursday signed into law three measures authorizing the awarding of the Medal of Honor to U.S. service members for acts of valor in combat. Among the bills signed was H.R. 3377, which authorizes the president to award the Medal of Honor to James Capers Jr. for his actions while serving in the Read More…
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines is urging swift confirmation of Katie Lane to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, calling her a principled, Montana-rooted attorney who would bring integrity and constitutional focus to the federal bench. Lane, a Bozeman native and nominee of Donald Trump, appeared this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee Read More…
His poll numbers are terrible, he just went through a corruption trial that ended in a hung jury and there might be a retrial in the middle of his reelection campaign. But it’s difficult to find a New Jersey Republican willing to challenge Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez next year — a testament to the toxicity Read More…
HELENA – The vast majority of Montanans will pay less in federal income tax after the new Republican tax reform bill takes effect in January, according to new analysis from the state Department of Revenue. The agency analysis says more than three-quarters of the roughly 461,000 Montana households that file federal tax returns will receive Read More…
In a year of anti-refugee sentiment in many corners of the world (and especially in the U.S.), one former refugee and first-time candidate ran for office — and won. Twenty-three years before Wilmot Collins became the mayor-elect of Helena, Mont., he was a refugee from Liberia. He stood in a long line at the port Read More…
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a pair of lawsuits claiming that President Donald Trump’s failure to divest himself of his real estate empire and other business holdings violated the Constitution’s provision banning receipt of foreign “emoluments” while in public office. U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels ruled that the two suits were fatally flawed Read More…
U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte (R-MT) has introduced legislation to ban mining on public land in the Paradise Valley. According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Gianforte introduced two bills to the U.S. House of Representatives: the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act and the East Rosebud Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The latter would “conserve a portion of Read More…
Alex Kozinski, the powerful judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit who was facing a judicial investigation over allegations that he subjected 15 women to inappropriate sexual behavior, announced Monday that he would retire effective immediately. In a statement provided by his lawyer, Kozinski apologized, saying that he “had a broad Read More…
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A mystery super PAC backing Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama is controlled by a pair of groups closely aligned with the national Democratic Party, even as the candidate strives to dissociate himself from Washington interests. Highway 31, which dropped more than $4.1 million in support of Jones and against Roy Moore ahead Read More…
Bozeman City Commissioners will consider investigating raising the body’s wages at their meeting tonight. If they approve the increase, it would go into effect for a future body and would be the commission’s first pay adjustment since 2013. Currently, a city ordinance adopted Dec. 2, 2013, fixes the salaries of the Bozeman City Commissioners at Read More…
HELENA – The Legislative Finance Committee on Monday expressed interest in working with the Revenue and Transportation Interim Committee on reviewing the state’s tax structure, however members balked at waiting until 2019 to do a formal study, saying they want to put it on a faster track. Revenue and Transportation Interim Committee members sent a Read More…
A federal investigation launched in 2016 into possible bank fraud by Jane Sanders, wife of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, is still underway — with “a potential” grand jury review possible. The probe could thwart Sanders’ 2020 presidential ambitions — as well as the Vermont political plans of Jane Sanders’ daughter, Carina Driscoll. Individuals questioned by Read More…
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spent more than $14,000 on government helicopters this summer to take himself and staff to and from official events near Washington, D.C., in order to accommodate his attendance at a swearing-in ceremony for his replacement in Congress and a horseback ride with Vice President Mike Pence, according to previously undisclosed official Read More…
Fourteen Democratic senators and the DNC chief urged Sen. Al Franken to resign Wednesday following the latest sexual misconduct allegation against him. After the resignation calls, Franken’s office said the senator would make an “announcement” on Thursday. It didn’t elaborate. Earlier Wednesday, Politico reported that a former Democratic congressional aide is accusing the Minnesota Democrat Read More…
A senior member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team said he was in “awe” of former acting Attorney General Sally Yates the day she was fired for refusing to defend President Trump’s controversial travel ban, according to emails obtained by a conservative watchdog group. Andrew Weissmann, a veteran Justice Department prosecutor who is one Read More…
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox has joined 22 other states attorneys general urging Congress to pas legislation establishing nationwide reciprocity for concealed weapons permits. Spokesman Eric Sell said these bills would allow concealed carry permits to be recognized in all 50 states and U.S. Territories, regardless of where they were issued. “Self defense is a Read More…
Calls for his resignation reached the highest levels of House leadership last week, as Brown and another accuser went public detailing his alleged misconduct. Supporters held a rally in Detroit on Monday to call for Conyers to receive “due process” and for critics to stop pressuring him to step down. Bloom said Grubbs’ affidavit is Read More…
BISMARCK—State regulators want to sit down with company officials behind a proposed oil refinery in western North Dakota to understand why they’re not going through the Public Service Commission’s siting process. The commission has scheduled a meeting for Dec. 19 regarding Meridian Energy Group’s plans for a refinery in Billings County near Theodore Roosevelt National Read More…
CHEYENNE – Monday was a bad day overall for new taxes in Wyoming, as lawmakers killed several bills and punted others to January. The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Revenue Interim Committee met in Cheyenne to discuss a number of proposals to address budget deficits in advance of the 2018 budget session, which convenes Feb. 12. The Read More…
WASHINGTON D.C. – Funding for the government expires on Friday and Republicans are planning to bring a two-week spending measure to the floor. House GOP appropriators released the continuing resolution (CR) on Saturday morning, which which fund the government through Dec. 22. This will give Republicans two extra weeks to try to negotiate a longer-term Read More…
Gov. Doug Burgum unveiled a task force to examine the governance structure of North Dakota’s higher education system Tuesday, a move he said was intended to ensure the state is keeping up with rapid workforce changes. Burgum will chair the task force and appoint its 15 members, who will represent “the interests of students, faculty, Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo.- Wyoming Governor Matt Mead has recommended an almost $2.9 billion budget, which he says will leave about $24 million on the table. The governor said, “It looked like, to me particularly, earlier in the year we were going to have some great challenges, and we do have some challenges. But because revenue has Read More…
HELENA – U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, bracing for another tough election battle in 2018, has received at least 81 percent of his nearly $8 million campaign war chest from sources outside Montana, an MTN analysis shows. Tester, one of several Democratic incumbent senators up for election in states won handily by President Trump last year, Read More…
CASPER — One Wyoming doctor is concerned about a potential new law that would heavily regulate the prescription of opioid painkillers in the state. Anne MacGuire, a rheumatology doctor based in Casper and a member of the state Board of Medicine, said she was alarmed by the bill because it could lead to many patients Read More…
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso’s campaign committee has raised almost $3 million in 2017, according to the committee’s most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission. Of that money, only $66,225 — around 2.2 percent — appears to come from the state he represents. In the first three quarters of 2017, Barrasso’s campaign committee, called Friends Read More…
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s brother Anthony Rodham are facing a $17 million fraud lawsuit from Chinese investors in Greentech Automotive, an electric car company that appears to be struggling to survive. A group of 32 Chinese citizens filed the suit last week in Fairfax County, Virginia court, claiming Read More…
The maneuvering to fix the state budget is still playing out following the special session earlier this month as some key pieces have yet to slide into place. Lawmakers left the state Capitol about a week and a half ago with a package of bills that filled the state’s projected $227 million budget shortfall. As Read More…
Most of us are well aware that sexual harassment was a problem in America well before the Harvey Weinstein scandal erupted this summer. But there is no denying the Weinstein story has taken the wraps off of a massive number of alleged and confirmed cases of this kind of misconduct in Hollywood. Now, the same Read More…
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Monday became the second GOP senator to oppose the upper chamber’s tax bill in its current form, raising concerns it does more to help corporations than other types of businesses. “Sen. Daines has concerns with how the tax bill looks at main street versus large corporations,” an aide to the Read More…
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) took action earlier this year to make her family’s private plane untrackable by the public, according to documents obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration. McCaskill garnered much criticism ahead of her last reelection campaign over her use of a private jet at taxpayer expense, causing her to demand her husband “sell the damn Read More…
HELENA – The Trust Lands Management Division for the state of Montana made $86.2 million gross revenues in fiscal year 2017, with $43 million of that going to schools, members of the state Land Board were told Monday. Shawn Thomas, division administrator for the Trust Land Management Division for the Department of Natural Resources and Read More…
Less than two weeks after filing suit to block a $30 million transfer of its funds to help balance the state budget, the state workers’ compensation fund board may vote to withdraw the lawsuit. The Montana State Fund’s board of directors has scheduled an emergency meeting this Wednesday, to consider whether it should withdraw the Read More…
CHEYENNE – Facing deficits in a fast-approaching legislative budget session, Wyoming lawmakers are looking at diverting money that would have otherwise gone to savings to pay for services. For Rep. Mike Madden, R-Buffalo, identifying such diversions is part of a four-pronged approach to addressing the state’s budgetary woes. “We’ve got to look at diverting away Read More…
MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock has called the Montana Legislature back to Helena for a special session to balance the state’s budget. The session will begin at 12:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 14, 2017. “I have put forth a set of reasonable and thoughtful proposals to balance Montana’s budget for consideration by the Legislature,” Gov. Bullock said. Read More…
Thursday the Governors Office said they were closer to reaching a deal which would resolve the $200 Million budget deficit. Friday Republicans said that is not the case at all. House Speaker Austin Knudsen wants to make it very clear there is no budget deal. He said they are not even close to a deal. $227 Million, that is Read More…
Like three other vulnerable Senate Democrats seeking re-election next year in states where President Donald Trump won, Sen. Jon Tester in Montana sports strong job approval ratings at home. But Tester has an additional edge compared to Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Joe Manchin from West Virginia, according Read More…
Donna Brazile, former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Hillary Clinton gained control of the political party before she won the presidential nomination in an effort to squeeze out Bernie Sanders. She began investigating whether Clinton “rigged the nomination process” as emails hacked from the DNC and published by WikiLeaks last year had Read More…
Wyoming voters prefer spending reductions over tax increases to balance the state’s budget and are open to cutting administrative education spending, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Wyoming Business Alliance. The survey also showed that voters were opposed to increasing “sales and property taxes” in order to balance the state budget by a Read More…
The Wyoming Legislature will have an additional $141 million in revenue to use while setting a budget for the next three years, a new report shows. The annual document, released Tuesday by the Consensus Revenue Estimate Group, also reveals that the state earned $244 million more than expected during the fiscal year that ended in Read More…
https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kufm/audio/2017/10/MN-PR-senate-update-10-31-17_0.mp3 Both of Montana’s senators questioned federal oversight of a multi-million dollar contract between Montana-based Whitefish Energy and the Puerto Rican electric utility during a Senate committee hearing today. Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines grilled administrators overseeing power restoration efforts in Puerto Rico during the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Read More…
HELENA – The company that owns Montana’s only private prison has offered $30 million to help solve the state’s budget crisis – if the Bullock administration would extend the company’s contract for another 10 years, MTN News has learned. The money would come from a fund set aside to help the state buy the privately Read More…
(HELENA) The Montana Supreme Court has found that voter-approved Constitutional Initiative 116, commonly referred to as Marsy’s Law, is unconstitutional. The court concluded that the initiative made at least five substantive and not closely related to changes to the Montana constitution. Montana’s Constitution requires a separate vote for each unrelated change to the constitution. The court Read More…