Montana Politics

In separate actions, Montana’s public higher education officials and the state’s largest union for public employees are suing the state over laws that change rules and regulations for college campuses.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The state is advertising for a business attractions manager, a job that will pay $125,000 a year to travel the country promoting Montana as good place to start or expand a business, in part by touting new tax incentives that were passed by the 2021 Legislature. The Department of Commerce also has $500,000 to support the effort, the Montana State News Bureau reports.

Montana lawmakers voted Thursday to give 14,000 women, children and infants receiving public food assistance a boost in benefits this summer. The money is meant to help them buy fresh fruits and vegetables.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed off on the $12 billion state budget passed by lawmakers to guide spending over the next two years.

Montana higher education officials are legally challenging the constitutionality of a new law allowing concealed carry of firearms on college campuses.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed into law the policy outlining how recreational marijuana will be regulated and taxed in the state.

Montana's higher education officials will consider whether to ask for a constitutional review of a new gun law Wednesday.

Montana’s governor vetoed an expansion to food assistance, saying it’s too expensive. The Republican-sponsored legislation aiming to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables for low-income Montanans received bipartisan support in both the House and Senate before meeting Gov. Greg Gianforte’s veto pen.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed two pandemic-related public health bills Friday, calling them redundant.

A last-minute addition to a Montana fish and wildlife bill signed into law on Friday reinvigorated a long-running debate over the role of money in hunting in Montana .

Several Montana tribal nations and legal nonprofits on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging two new laws they say disenfranchise American Indian voters.

Child care isn’t easy to find or pay for in Montana. While research shows the lack of affordable child care options has major impacts on the state’s economy and workforce, Montana lawmakers came out of the 2021 legislative session with fundamental disagreements about how to address the problem.

Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen is pushing back against the federal education department for proposing a program that would teach educators how to incorporate racially and culturally diverse perspectives into their lesson plans.

Montana Congressman Matt Rosendale joined with the majority of his party to oust Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as the No. 3 U.S. House Republican leader, according to a spokesperson for Rosendale.

The Montana Supreme Court has denied an order asking all seven justices to recuse themselves from hearing a case regarding the state court administrator. It’s the latest development in an ongoing dispute between Republican legislative leaders and the judicial branch.

Funding for projects to expand high-speed Internet across Montana is moving forward under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte.

Montana officials are butting heads over the future of the national mammal. At stake is whether bison should be treated as livestock or as wildlife. New legislation and policy changes under the Gianforte administration are derailing hopes of establishing the first free-roaming bison herds in the state.

Missoula County lifted its mask mandate Monday, effectively ending all COVID-19 restrictions for the general public in the area.

Montana has banned transgender women and girls from competing in women’s interscholastic sports. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed that ban into law Friday. Montana joins five other states in enacting a ban on transgender women and girls from participating in K-12 and college sports with other women and girls.

Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed two bills into law Thursday to simplify the state’s income tax code while also cutting the top marginal rate. Gianforte was joined by Republican lawmakers to sign the bills at a manufacturing business in Kalispell.

Montana has joined 31 other states in suing the U.S. Treasury Department over a provision that bars states from using federal stimulus dollars to offset tax cuts. Montana is set to see roughly $3 billion in federal stimulus funds through the American Rescue Plan Act with the stipulation that the money can’t be used to offset revenue reductions caused by tax cuts.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed a bill into law that bans "sanctuary cities" in the state. The new law prohibits state agencies and local governments from adopting policies that block local law enforcement from detaining undocumented immigrants sought by federal authorities. There are no sanctuary cities in Montana right now.

State lawmakers have passed a measure creating a Bitterroot Valley Community College District. The joint resolution triggers a process to transition Hamilton’s Bitterroot College UM — currently an appendage of the University of Montana — into an independent, locally controlled community college.

Montana lawmakers worried about losing federal funding have amended a proposed ban on transgender women and girls competing in interscholastic women’s sports. The Senate has endorsed the amended bill.

Two competing proposals introduced Monday outline how state lawmakers would regulate the legalization of recreational marijuana in Montana.

As of mid-day Friday, 1,237 bills had been introduced and at least 74 had been signed into law. We’re hitting the time of the session when more are on the way. This week we’re watching the legal marijuana bill take shape, lawmakers consider the former governor’s district court judge nominees, and proposals to change elections in the state.

Montana’s lone U.S. congressman has joined other conservative lawmakers in signing a pledge to not request earmark spending projects. This comes after Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives ended a decade-long ban on earmarks, or congressionally directed spending.

Gov. Greg Gianforte makes headlines after trapping a Yellowstone wolf — while bills targeting wolves head toward passage. Republican lawmakers want to eliminate same-day voter registration. And the so-called "beast bill" — directing how billions in federal COVID relief money will be spent — crawls forward. Listen now on Capitol Talk with Sally Mauk, Holly Michels and Rob Saldin.

A key policy in Gov. Greg Gianforte’s plan for tax cuts in Montana narrowly failed in the House on Thursday.

As lawmakers implement a 2020 ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana, supporters of a bill that would change the ballot initiative process say it would increase transparency and protect Montanans from out-of-state interests. Critics say it would threaten the public’s ability to participate in policy.

A policy to increase local law enforcement's role in federal immigration investigations in Montana is nearing Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk. The state's Republican-led Legislature has passed the bill in both chambers and now it returns to the House after being amended in the Senate.

A sixth Montana lawmaker has tested positive for COVID-19. According to a news release from GOP leadership, the lawmaker did not authorize his or her name to be released, as has happened with other lawmakers who have contracted the virus. The GOP press release said the unnamed lawmaker is in quarantine away from the Capitol.

Republicans in the Montana Senate have endorsed a bill that would end same-day voter registration in the state, pushing the bill closer to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk.

Republicans in the Montana House of Representatives endorsed a state budget Monday that outlines $12 billion in spending over two years. The Republican majority advanced the state spending package with every Democrat voting against it.

As of mid-day Friday, 1,183 bills have been introduced and 60 have been signed into law. This week we’re watching the state budget, recreational marijuana and bills that would carry impacts for LGBTQ people.

The many moving parts of the state budget have pushed lawmakers to extend the session — but Montana's Legislature isn't the state's only busy branch. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has filed yet another lawsuit against the Biden Administration. At the same time, prominent Montanans are suing Gov. Greg Gianforte over his effort to directly appoint judges. And, as a racist social media post by a Republican lawmaker resurfaces, Montanans are learning that overwhelming public opposition to legislation does not guarantee a bill's defeat. Listen now on Capitol Talk with Sally Mauk, Holly Michels and Rob Saldin.

Forecasters say Montana’s state revenues are getting a major boost from federal stimulus, and the health of state coffers is easier to estimate now than in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Legislative fiscal analysts gave that update to lawmakers Friday

As film and TV-show production become more common in Montana, lawmakers are already seeking to expand a new tax incentive and encourage the industry to plant firmer roots in the state.

Montana Republicans Friday voted down a proposal to expand the states Earned Income Tax Credit for the second time. It’s Democratic lawmakers latest policy proposal to find little traction this session. House Bill 631 was the second iteration of a bill that would have increased the Earned Income Tax Credit from 3% to 10%. The credit benefits moderate- and low-income households.

Montana lawmakers endorsed a bill Thursday that would change the state's Constitution to ban abortion in any circumstance. Although it is one of several anti-abortion bills making headway this session, this proposal will need to find bipartisan support in the Senate to continue moving forward.

HELENA — After a 15-hour session, the Montana Senate finished its business for the first half of the 67th legislative session just before midnight on Monday, advancing a total of 115 bills. The slate ranged from legislation aimed at strengthening religious freedoms to a bill abolishing daylight saving time.

Ahead of a Wednesday deadline, Montana lawmakers endorsed one bill and rejected another that aim to increase access to the internet.

The 67th session of the Montana Legislature hit the halfway point Tuesday, and lawmakers are taking a break through next Monday. The week before the break was full of marathon policy debates and votes. With the adjournment of the state Senate at nearly midnight Monday evening, and the House of Representatives Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers completed the first 45 days of their work.

Montana lawmakers have reversed a vote and now are rejecting a policy that would add regulations for internet providers following the bill’s passage over the weekend when only Republicans on the committee were in attendance to vote.

As of midday Friday 1,128 bills had been introduced and Gov. Gianforte had signed 28 into law. The Legislature faces a Wednesday, March 3 deadline for general policy bills from the House to make their way to the Senate, and vice versa. Bills that appropriate money can still be introduced. This week, we’re watching bills ‘in the balance’ -- they need to get across to the other chamber to stay in play.

Montana's two senators are split on their support for the first Native American to be nominated to a Cabinet post. And the state Legislature is hurtling towards its mid-session break with a flurry of bills addressing abortion, transgender surgery and tax cuts, among others. Listen now on Capitol Talk with Sally Mauk, Holly Michels and Rob Saldin.

Four bills that aim to further regulate access to abortion in Montana were endorsed by the state Senate Friday. Each bill passed mostly along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor of the proposals and Democrats voting against.

Efforts to expand who and where people can carry guns in Montana continue in the Legislature after a major policy signed into law last week allowed concealed carry of firearms in most places in the state. Lawmakers this week advanced one bill and rejected another.

The Montana House of Representatives endorsed a bill that would bar doctors from performing certain medical procedures for transgender youth.

Lawmakers on the House Business and Labor Committee heard testimony Wednesday on several bills that would change workers’ compensation, including one that would allow essential workers to receive benefits if they contract COVID-19.

Montana lawmakers are considering several bills this session that aim to regulate election practices, including one that’s nearly identical to a policy that’s currently tied up in court.