A watchdog group wants the Department of the Interior to investigate whether the National Wildlife Federation misused federal grant money tied to political spending in Montana’s 2024 U.S. Senate race. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) filed the complaint Thursday with the department’s inspector general. The complaint says the Bureau of Land Management Read More…
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision on Monday, ruled that states can accept and count mail-in ballots received after the federal Election Day. The decision comes out of the high court’s ruling in Watson v. RNC, a case challenging Mississippi’s acceptance of mail-in ballots up to five days after Election Day as long Read More…
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced Sen. Tim Sheehy’s bipartisan VA Home Loan Awareness Act as part of a larger package of housing legislation, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, sending the bill to President Trump’s desk. The measure is the first piece of legislation Sheehy introduced as a senator. “The VA Home Loan Read More…
Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke celebrated the release of $53,889,068 in Payments in Lieu of Taxes funding for Montana counties, an increase of more than $7.3 million over 2025 disbursements. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Zinke said he played a major role in securing the funds. “Public Read More…
After the state of Montana struggled with a surprising $227 million budget deficit in 2017, many are wondering why the state’s revenue is so weak at a time when the economy is growing. An economist says it’s largely due to Montana’s reliance on income tax. Patrick Barkey, director of UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Read More…
Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst has announced that she is running for her second term and officially filed for reelection on Friday. “These last four years have been incredibly gratifying and challenging, and I feel like I need at least another four years to continue some of the work that we’ve done,” Pabst said. “When Read More…
Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier who was convicted of giving classified information to WikiLeaks, has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission for a U.S. Senate bid in Maryland. According to an FEC statement of candidacy form dated Thursday, Manning filed to run as Democrat in the 2018 midterm elections, challenging incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin, Read More…
Stephen Bannon and Corey Lewandowski are scheduled to testify in the coming week as the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election reaches a crescendo. President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist and former campaign manager, respectively, are part of a hectic schedule that Democrats fear is being engineered by Republicans Read More…
The Trump administration plans to unveil a major revision to decades-old banking rules that mandate lending to low-income borrowers. Changes to the regulations of the Community Reinvestment Act—a law first enacted in 1977—could potentially transform the way banks make billions of dollars in loans, investments and donations to customers in low- and moderate-income areas. In Read More…
HELENA – It’s a tradition that for some with insatiable political appetites may rank up there with ringing in the new year in Times Square, the running of the bulls in Pamplona or the opening day of baseball season: Candidate filing for the 2018 elections begins Thursday. The public may join Secretary of State Corey Read More…
Officially opens election season once again. All across the state, candidates are filing to run not just for congressional seats, but for state legislature as well. As your hometown elections headquarters we took the time to get to know the parties and their agendas for the election season. Here in Cascade County Bill Strizich, Cascade Read More…
HELENA – Candidate filing for state offices in Montana’s 2018 elections kicked off Thursday at the Capitol, led by a half-dozen filers in the top two races on the ticket, U.S House and U.S. Senate. Four of the five Democrats hoping to challenge Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte paid their $1,740 filing fee Thursday, including Lynda Read More…
Before Congress left on their holiday break, they provided a patch for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that extended coverage through March. Jennifer Calder with Montana Kids Count said 23,000 children could lose health insurance funding altogether. “Currently, about one in three Montana children have health insurance thanks to public investment,” said Calder. “There Read More…
North Dakota Democrats asked for an ethics investigation Monday, into a tweet from Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer’s official account that discussed campaign polling, a move that the third-term congressman called “petty.” The request to the Office of Congressional Ethics comes as Cramer weighs a run against Democratic incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. He expects to make Read More…
The state of Wyoming has more than 20 billion dollars in funds, and the state’s treasurer announced a billion dollar investment growth last year. But lawmakers are working on a plan to cut education funding, and jobs. The topic of discussion for Wyoming lawmakers meeting in Cheyenne soon will be class size. Representative David Northrup Read More…
Steve Bannon said Sunday he “regrets” his comments made to author Michael Wolff in his explosive book “Fire and Fury” that has shaken the Trump White House. “My support is also unwavering for the president and his agenda,” Bannon said in a statement, first reported by Axios, the political news website. NBC News later confirmed Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo – Wyoming legislative leaders are considering proposals that would implement a pilot program for live video streaming of legislative meetings during its interim months. The Legislature’s Management Council voted Tuesday to consider contracting with Wyoming Public Broadcast System and another company to broadcast interim meetings. READ THE FULL STORY.
HELENA – Democratic state Rep. Tom Woods of Bozeman has dropped out of Montana’s U.S. House race – although five Democrats still remain, vying for the nomination to challenge Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte. Woods announced his decision Monday with a post on his personal Facebook page, saying he couldn’t compete with other candidates who already Read More…
Minnesota Democrat Al Franken will serve his last day as a U.S. senator Tuesday. Franken, who served eight years as senator, was forced to resign after multiple women came forward late last year and accused him of sexual misconduct. Franken apologized several times, but ultimately announced his resignation after a wave of his Democratic colleagues Read More…
WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, announced Tuesday that he will retire at the end of his term this year, ending months of speculation about the political future of the longest-serving Republican in the Senate. “Every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves. And for me that time is soon approaching,” Hatch, a Read More…
The U.S. Census Bureau released its population estimates last month, and the combination of Montana’s continued steady growth and other states’ continued decline or slower growth means the Treasure State could be in line for a second member of Congress. Currently, Republican Greg Gianforte is the lone U.S. congressman in the state, which has had Read More…
(HELENA) With the start of the new year, drivers in Montana will be paying more to register their vehicles. During last year’s state legislative session, lawmakers approved increased fees to help fund the Motor Vehicle Division. The changes came as part of a broader highway and transportation funding package. Starting Jan. 1, MVD will add Read More…
Alabamians retained some levity during a bruising special U.S. Senate election that pitted an underdog Democrat against a Republican facing accusations of sexual misconduct with teenagers. For example, Jesus got two votes in Cherokee County in northeast Alabama from voters who chose to write-in their vote instead of picking one of the listed options, Democrat Read More…
President Donald Trump is predicting that Democrats and Republicans will “eventually come together “on a new health care plan for the country. Sending a Twitter post early Tuesday from his Florida resort, Trump said “the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate has been terminated as part of our Tax Cut Bill, which essentially Repeals (over Read More…
GRAND FORKS — North Dakota legislators “scramble” to avoid university system Chancellor Mark Hagerott, Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, said Tuesday, Nov. 28. Holmberg was speaking to allegations made more than a week earlier by Lisa Feldner, a former vice chancellor of the university system fired by Hagerott earlier this fall. Feldner, who also served 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…