Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
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HELENA -- The Montana Legislature adjourned Friday after a short and chaotic day of failed attempts to pass a package of bills that would have used bonding to fund infrastructure projects. Debate in the House was tense at times, as a Senate-set deadline neared for House Bill 8 and Senate Bill 367. The bills would have allowed for bonding, or borrowing, and the use of local matching funds for roughly $123 million to help pay for projects like water systems, a veterans' home in Butte and the contr...
HELENA -- After nearly five months of rigorous debate, Montana's 65th Legislative session is coming to a close. While lawmakers are only constitutionally required to draft and pass a two-year budget for the state's numerous offices and programs -- which they did last week -- legislators from all walks of life address the concerns of their constituents, as well as their own ideas in the other bills they bring. Some of these bills were inspired by personal struggles, like Livingston Republican...
HELENA -- With the future of health care on the federal level still unclear, Republican lawmakers in Helena are pushing legislation that could reshape how Montanans access and pay for medical services. Three bills -- House Bill 266, and Senate Bills 100 and 362 -- operate under the philosophy that individual states should be able to determine what health care practices are best suited for their residents, and that costs should be lowered. "Finally a handful of legislators on both sides of the...
HELENA -- A legislative committee has tabled a lawmaker’s attempt to clarify how private land is leased to oil companies. Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, is the sponsor of House Bill 384, which would have revised language used on oil and gas leases to inform landowners of the associated costs of oil extraction from their land. Knudsen said leases tell landowners they will receive royalties from wells on their land. However, he said the oil industry tends to deduct transportation and operating costs from that royalty. That i...
HELENA -- When it comes to balancing the state budget, there are two schools of thought - raise taxes and generate revenue, or cut spending and save money. With the state facing a budget shortfall, that ideological difference has become all the more prominent throughout Montana's 65th Legislative session. Often, it defines party lines. In Gov. Steve Bullock's original budget proposal, he suggested a wide variety of tax increases on everything from cigarettes to medical marijuana. Perhaps most...
With long distances between cities and frequent weather-related travel difficulties, it can often be hard to access medical services in Montana. Because of this, more patients are meeting with doctors remotely, through the practice of telemedicine. House Bill 389, introduced by Rep. Kirk Wagoner, R-Montana City, places regulations on telemedicine, a practice in which doctors communicate with patients remotely through video or audio chat. "The main purpose behind this bill is to put some...
HELENA -- With so much talk of money during Montana’s 65th Legislative Session, it can be difficult to comprehend how all that money affects everyday Montanans. This session, one group has become the de facto human face of the budget — direct care workers. According to the Montana Disability & Health Program, nearly 13 percent of Montanans reported having some sort of disability in 2012. Among those, many have developmental disabilities, like down syndrome and autism, and often require significant assistance to meet their basic needs. Mon...
Liz Schwartz's brother overdosed in their parents' garage after sucking prescription opioids out of a used fentanyl patch. His mother found him on the floor and immediately called an ambulance. He made it to the hospital in time and survived. But within a year, Schwartz's father overdosed the same way. He, too, survived. "You think the addict is getting clean, or they're on the right track to getting there, and there's setbacks like that," Schwartz said. "It's terrifying." While Montana's drug...
The Montana Legislature is responsible for accomplishing a great deal during the 90 days it meets every two years. But lawmakers are actually only constitutionally required to do one thing - create and pass a state budget. Last week, the House of Representatives got one step closer to that goal. Fifty-six days into the session, legislators passed House Bill 2, the bill that lays out funding for every major state agency. Lawmakers allocated $10 billion in general fund money to be spent over two...
HELENA -- As Republicans and Democrats grapple with how to fund statewide infrastructure projects at the Montana Legislature, one bill in the House aims to put that decision in the hands of local voters. House Bill 577, introduced by Rep. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish, would allow cities and towns to adopt an infrastructure tax on luxury goods and services at a maximum rate of 4 percent. However, the tax would have to be approved by local voters. “House Bill 577 empowers our cities, towns and counties to solve their infrastructure problems,” Fern said...
After uncertainty about how the upcoming special congressional election would change the makeup of the Montana Legislature, the nomination of Democrat Rob Quist and Republican Greg Gianforte means it's back to business as usual at the state Capitol. Multiple legislators had announced their intention to run for the vacant congressional seat after former Rep. Ryan Zinke was nominated and then confirmed as U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Sen. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, and Reps. Amanda Curtis, D-Bu...
The main state budget bill at the Montana Legislature passed first reading last week with some surprises, like the restoration of $11.5 million to higher education funding, and some expected cuts. But one area has consistently struggled to find funding throughout the entirety of the 65th Montana Legislative session — special education. Funded through a combination of federal dollars and state funds, special education has seen minimal increases in state funds, leaving local and federal dollars to pick up the slack, according to a report by t...
The 65th Montana Legislative Session has reached its halfway point, and the state budget still weighs heavy. Both Republicans and Democrats are working to reach a compromise on how to fund state programs, with battles over other policy happening simultaneously. March 1 marks the session’s transmittal break, when general bills have to be moved from one chamber to the other. Roughly 300 bills are currently active in both the House and Senate. The House has also tabled nearly 150 bills, while the Senate has tabled over 60 of their own. This l...
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines addressed the Montana House of Representatives last week, touching on his role in Washington, his support for the Keystone XL Pipeline and support for the appointment of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Daines repeatedly said he and other Republicans in Washington are seeking less federal power and more states' rights. "Montanans are best at running Montana," Daines said. Daines opened his speech by applauding the "peaceful transition of power" from Barack Obama...
The Montana House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would shutter the Office of the Commissioner of Political Practices, which some critics say could put the integrity of Montana elections in jeopardy. The bill, introduced by a state lawmaker tied to one of the office's most significant investigations, would place oversight and enforcement of campaign laws back into the hands of the Secretary of State and Attorney General, as it was before the office's creation in 1975. Supporters...
Montana lawmakers heard broad support last week for the construction of a new veterans home in Butte. During the final hearing on House Bill 14, which would fund a wide variety of infrastructure projects primarily through bonding, dozens of Montana veterans spoke to the shelter's necessity. "It's time that we make a commitment to these veterans," said Rep. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, a Vietnam veteran. "If we're gonna send them, we've got to take care of them." Montana currently has two state-run...
Gov. Steve Bullock outlined his goals for the 2017 Legislature Tuesday during his third State of the State address, including a responsible state budget, infrastructure, business growth and education. While addressing a joint session of the House and Senate, Bullock named common values, including, "Fiscal responsibility. Education. Infrastructure. Job creation. Caring for others." "We must engage in thoughtful, rational, and constructive dialogue with one another," Bullock said. Immediately...
Though the 2017 Montana Legislative session has seen more than its fair share of partisan disputes, one issue has united lawmakers — reforming state law on rape and sexual assault. The Montana Senate advanced a package of bills last week that deal with everything from the parental rights of children conceived by rape to the very definition of “consent.” “It’s been a long time coming, and I really appreciate that we’ve kept it out of all of the politics and whatever dynamics could be out there,” said Sen. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, during a Sena...
Section 10 of Montana’s Constitution states that “the right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest.” But as technology rapidly advances, finding the line between individual privacy and “a compelling state interest” is more complex than ever before. In response, the 2017 Montana Legislature will begin to make distinctions, wrestling with bills that deal with issues like cell phone data, GPS-enabled heart monitors and even revenge porn. T...
Montana's 2017 Legislature has begun to tackle a wide swath of issues, from public safety to infrastructure, from education to agriculture. But as the first of many bills were read in committee rooms around the Capitol last week, it became clear that everything this time around would focus on the budget. During a Republican caucus Tuesday, House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, told fellow party members the challenges the entire Legislature faces in the coming months would be daunting. "The...
