Economy
State budget gets Senate approval
The Montana Senate on Thursday signed off on the state’s $12.6 billion budget, rejecting amendments to defund Medicaid expansion and restore cuts made earlier in the process, among others, as House Bill 2 makes its penultimate steps to the governor’s desk. Lawmakers in the upper chamber passed the spending package on a bipartisan 34-16 vote, […]
Three visions for recreational marijuana emerge from Montana House
Montana’s medical marijuana program had a rocky beginning — a ballooning number of dispensaries and patients following legalization in 2004 led to raids by the feds, lawsuits and regular intervention from Republican lawmakers that kneecapped the program after nearly killing it altogether. All that is no secret to Rep. Mike Hopkins. The Missoula Republican often […]
Flagship pot bill rescued from the brink after GOP dissent
Mike Milburn, Gov. Greg Gianforte’s senior advisor, was on Thursday walking the Capitol halls past the legislative chambers — where the governor had just visited to gladhand and backslap with House Republicans — when Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, appeared from a side door to the Senate floor to get his attention. Milburn leaned in to […]
House Human Services Committee tables HB676
After a 12-7 no vote Wednesday, the House Human Services Committee tabled a bill opponents said would hurt the ability of children and working families to access Medicaid and CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and hurt Native Americans. In a hearing one day earlier, opponents said House Bill 676 would push children off of […]
House passes monumental COVID-19 aid bill
Less than three weeks after President Joe Biden signed the mammoth American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion federal COVID-19 recovery package, Montana lawmakers have shepherded a bill to spend most of Montana’s share of that sum across its first major hurdle. House Bill 632, which passed a House vote on a wide bipartisan margin […]
Zoning debate in Legislature heats up with ADU proposal
Montana’s priciest cities are once more opposed to legislation that would force local governments to loosen their zoning restrictions in an effort to stimulate the supply of affordable housing in the state. It’s a goal that has engendered some bitter fights this session as policymakers in Helena work to figure out the extent of their […]
Clyde Coffee nearly shutters, will reopen in new space
Customers who wanted espresso drinks but didn’t want to wear masks yelled at Lily Anderson at Clyde Coffee during the pandemic. “One time, a man had to pull his wife out because she was screaming at us,” said Anderson, manager of the Missoula coffee shop. Anderson, trying to keep workers safe, got tough with them: […]
Gianforte capital gains tax proposal fails, is promptly revived
The state House moved Thursday to reconsider one of Gov. Greg Gianforte’s tax cut plans after a surprise contingent of Republicans voted down the bill on the floor, with at least one member of the GOP saying they feared the bill would “entice” large marijuana companies from out of state to come into Montana as […]
Montana House passes $12.6 billion spending plan
The state House of Representatives on Monday gave preliminary approval to the state’s main budget bill, House Bill 2, following hours of debate and a series of ultimately failed amendments from Democrats to restore cuts to healthcare services that lawmakers originally made in subcommittees earlier in the session. The $12.6 billion spending plan, the product […]
Montana Legislature takes up $350M broadband plan
About three billion good ideas — that’s what’s at stake over the coming weeks, as one lawmaker put it, as the state Legislature works to authorize or appropriate more than $900 million of Montana’s roughly $3 billion potential allotment from the American Rescue Plan Act. That act is the most recent COVID-19 aid package to […]
Where’s recreational weed money going?
The long-awaited plan to implement the adult-use recreational marijuana program that voters approved in the last election has arrived at the Capitol and could land in a legislative committee as early as next week, setting the stage for one of this session’s key policy debates. At hand is a gargantuan 260-page bill from Rep. Mike […]
Montana Commerce Department awards nearly a half-million to community projects
The Montana Department of Commerce today announced it is awarding $430,273 to support small business growth and local community development across 15 Montana communities. The funding is from the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund Planning Grant, which provides state funds to promote long-term, stable economic growth in Montana. “When small businesses across Montana thrive, […]