HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte yesterday afternoon visited the new Helena Food Share facility to support the organizations’ food drive ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. “We have so much to be grateful for as Montanans,” Gov. Gianforte said. “This Thanksgiving week, I encourage Montanans to give what they can, including the gift of their Read More…
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has expressed strong support for President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as the next U.S. Attorney General. “I served with, and was impressed by, Pam as Florida’s Attorney General,” Jackley said in a statement. “She is an experienced prosecutor who will strengthen the relationship Read More…
he Montana Department of Commerce announced today that 26 rural safety agencies will receive more than $1.4 million in grant funding to enhance emergency service capabilities in areas experiencing increased tourism. The funding, allocated through the Montana Emergency Tourism Assistance Grant Program (METAP), aims to strengthen public safety across rural communities. “Emergency services are critical Read More…
BOZEMAN — The Montana Board of Regents today approved Montana State University’s proposal to establish a new institute to help address the nation’s security needs through applied research, technology development and education for the next generation of leaders. The Institute for National Security Research and Education, or INSRE, will serve as a hub at MSU, 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
At least four bills that would specifically regulate public health orders have been introduced in the Wyoming Legislature this session. The tenor of the proposals ranges from broad legislative oversight of public health orders to more minor specifications regarding timing and executive approval. Several of the bills are similar but propose different degrees Read More…
The Wyoming Republican party on Saturday voted to censure Congresswoman Liz Cheney over her vote to impeach former President Trump. Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House, said Saturday that her vote to impeach was “compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution.” The Wyoming GOP approved a censure resolution by a vote of 56 to 8. Read More…
A bill would legalize marijuana for recreational use in North Dakota — but with some restrictions. House Bill 1420 would allow recreational weed to be sold at dispensaries, where medical marijuana is already available for those who qualify in the state. Under the legislation, those 21 and older could purchase or possess an ounce or less and Read More…
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – A bill introduced in the South Dakota Legislature Wednesday would require student athletes across the state to sign a document stating their biological sex. It would also limit who can play in girls and women’s sports. House Bill 1217 is being called ‘an act to promote continued fairness in women’s sports.’ Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) -Some South Dakota voters are filing ethics complaints with the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office. The complaints have to do with a text message sent out last Wednesday, targeting a Republican lawmaker from Rapid City who is the sponsor of a bill that would require the governor to release the amount Read More…
With the Wolverine State going live last week, five states now offer licensed and regulated online poker – Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. If State Rep. Jim Kasper has anything to say about it, North Dakota will be added to the list. Earlier this month, Kasper, a Republican who has represented District 46 (Fargo) since 2001, has introduced House Read More…
A group of disenfranchised Colorado residents are exploring the possibility of annexing from their home state and changing boundary lines so their entire county becomes part of Wyoming. Christopher “Todd” Richards is leading the effort with his “Weld County Wyoming” political committee, created last February, according to local outlet Fox 31 KDVR. READ FULL STORY
A bill that would aim to crack down on any possibility of voter fraud in Wyoming has been filed for the 2021 session of the Wyoming Legislature. You can read House Bill 75 here. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Chuck Gray [R-Natrona County], and a long list of co-sponsors. READ FULL STORY
As Joe Biden becomes America’s 46th president today, some North Dakota lawmakers are looking to preemptively curb the impact his executive orders could have on the state. House Bill 1164 would allow North Dakota to exempt itself from applying certain presidential orders. Under the bill, orders could go unenforced if the attorney general deems them unconstitutional and Read More…
Former Wyoming Senate President Hank Coe of Cody has died at the age of 74. According to the Cody Enterprise newspaper, Coe died Thursday afternoon of pancreatic cancer. The paper says he was diagnosed with the disease in November. Coe served in the Wyoming Legislature for three decades, including stints as Senate president and Vice President. He Read More…
Several bills intended to improve the safety of Wyoming’s highways advanced out of their legislative committees this week, aiming to reduce the state’s persistently high numbers of highway deaths that have seen steady increases over the last few years. A law that would allow police officers to pull over and ticket drivers for not wearing a Read More…
Emails indicate North Dakota’s attorney general advocated for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Texas’ lawsuit over the presidential election despite an expectation among some of his top officials that it wouldn’t succeed. The state’s deputy solicitor general told Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem he thought the high court would deny the case “in one sentence.” A Read More…
Gov. Kristi Noem has proposed $900,000 in one-time funds for curriculum to help meet her goal of teaching South Dakota’s students “why the U.S. is the most special nation in the history of the world.” Noem stated her educational goals on Tuesday while delivering the governor’s annual State of the State Address to formally kick Read More…
CASPER, Wyo — The Wyoming Republican Party has responded to the “whirlwind” created by U.S. House Representative Cheney’s Liz Cheneys vote to endorse the impeachment of President Donald Trump. “There has not been a time during our tenure when we have seen this type of an outcry from our fellow Republicans, with the anger and Read More…
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Donald Trump, decided against running for an open Senate seat in Wyoming in 2020, according to Politico. In an article detailing the political futures of the Trump family, specifically that of White House advisor Ivanka Trump, who is thought of as a potential Republican challenger to GOP Sen. Marco Rubio Read More…
North Dakota activists are gearing up for a push to put marijuana legalization on the state’s 2022 ballot. A measure to allow adults 21 and older to possess and cultivate cannabis for personal use was submitted to Secretary of State Al Jaeger on Monday. If it’s accepted, the campaign will be able to start signature Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Legislature convened their 2021 General Session on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Both the Senate and House of Representatives elected new leadership during their respective virtual meetings. Sen. Dan Dockstader was elected new president of the Senate. Dockstader represents Senate District 16, which covers portions of Lincoln, Sublette and Teton County. READ Read More…
More North Dakotans are participating in the medical marijuana program than the state Department of Health expected. “We have just under 4,400 patients that have a medical marijuana card,” Medical Marijuana Division Director Jason Wahl told Prairie Public. He had earlier projected about 4,000 patients by the summer of 2021, based on the experience in Delaware, Read More…
CHEYENNE — Governor Mark Gordon signed an Executive Order (EO) December 21 that will prevent large increases in Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes for businesses that were directly impacted by the statewide health orders enacted to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Department of Workforce Services (DWS) is removing UI benefit charges from the UI policies for Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The governor wants the Legislature to provide more than $4 million for state government to start preparing for medicinal and recreational marijuana in South Dakota. Legislation was pre-filed Thursday that would appropriate $4,026,253 to the state Department of Revenue and $135,249 to the state Department of Health. The Senate Appropriations Committee agreed Read More…
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., objected to counting Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes hours after a violent mob supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, causing significant damage, leading members of the U.S. Congress to seek shelter and delaying the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s November victory by nearly six hours. Lummis, sworn in Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Lawmakers convene Tuesday either in person wearing masks or remotely for North Dakota’s 67th legislative session. The session comes as lawmakers face tough spending choices amid a pandemic that’s hit a state economy already reeling from depressed oil and agriculture prices. Ambitious billion-dollar bonding proposals from Republicans, Democrats and Gov. Doug Read More…
For a few months in the spring of 1996, Mike Enzi thought his career in politics was over. Then a 10-year veteran of the Wyoming Legislature, Enzi was in recovery from open heart surgery the previous October at Deaconess Hospital in Billings, Montana, where he was treated for a damaged heart valve. It Read More…
A reduction in soda ash royalties expected to save producers up to $5 million over the next 10 years is being praised by members of Wyoming’s congressional delegation. U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney welcomed the U.S. Department of Interior’s decision to reduce the royalties paid on soda ash Read More…
BOISE, Idaho — Democratic leaders in the Idaho Legislature are requesting that the upcoming legislative session – set to begin on Jan. 11, 2021 – be postponed until at least April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to GOP House and Senate leadership, Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett and House Minority Leader Ilana Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum signed an amended executive order paving the way for restaurants and bars to resume normal hours of operation as active cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have decreased in North Dakota. Bars, restaurants and other food service establishments have been closed to in-person service between the hours of 10 Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (KIFI/KIDK)-Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed an executive order Monday to prevent large increases in Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes for businesses directly impacted by COVID 19 health orders. Under the order, the Department of Workforce Services will remove unemployment insurance benefit charges from the policies of all businesses and industries named in health orders. Read More…
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem urged Minnesota business owners to relocate to her state after the Minnesota attorney general began suing bars that defied the state’s lockdown orders. “Come to South Dakota!” Noem tweeted. “We respect your rights. We won’t shut you down.” Noem’s tweet also shared a Star Tribune article that highlighted the stories of bars Read More…
The Minnesota Republican Party has decided to hold its annual winter retreat in Deadwood, South Dakota. On its invitation to members, party officials say they’re excited to hit the road and head to our “friendly neighbors to the west in a beautiful, free and open part of the country.” South Dakota has fewer COVID restrictions Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Legislature is considering joining other states in authorizing the use of “automated vehicle identification systems” to enforce speed limits and other traffic laws. 19 states and the District of Columbia have laws in place which allow the use of cameras to issue speeding fines, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem sent official letters on December 7 withdrawing as a presidential elector and asking that South Dakota Republican Party chairman Dan Lederman serve in her place. Lederman and two fellow Republicans, Lieutenant Governor Larry Rhoden and State Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, met at noon Monday in a Read More…
South Dakota is making a last-minute bid to overturn presidential election results and keep President-elect Joe Biden from taking office next month. South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s office Wednesday joined 16 other states with Republican attorneys general in filing an Amicus Brief in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against four battleground states — Georgia, Read More…
Cynthia Lummis is the Republican senator-elect from Wyoming, having been elected to succeed Mike Enzi. She will be the first woman to represent Wyoming in the Senate. First elected to the House in 2008, she served as the representative for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district from 2009 to 2017. READ FULL STORY