The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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You may believe that Montana is debt free following actions by the legislature earlier this year to pay off state debt. It is great that we passed legislation to pay off over $100 million of state bonded debt, but there is another debt obligation rarely discussed but costing us dearly. Unfortunately, Montana has accumulated over $4.8 billion in pension debt over the past twenty years (in 2003 our pensions were fully funded with no debt). This debt is equivalent to over $4,300...
The 2023 Montana legislature began its legislative session with an unprecedented surplus, mainly due to the over-collection of state taxes from Montana taxpayers. Since this is ultimately taxpayers' money, I - along with other conservatives in the legislature - were determined to return money to Montana taxpayers and to reduce your taxes in the future. Tax relief has long been an objective of mine, like in the 2021 session when I passed a bill that effectively moved Montana's...
There is a reason Montana is the Last Best Place in the country. Over the last decade, the Montana Republican Party has made tremendous progress in advancing our priority of protecting the future generation. This continues to be a priority for House Republicans as we advance SB 99 this legislative session. SB 99, a bill that prevents gender transition surgery until our children become adults is an important step in safeguarding our youth. Within the last few years, the...
Montana's state Legislature is proposing a host of extreme anti-wildlife bills despite widespread, diverse, strong, and credible opposition to these unnecessary measures. The onslaught on wildlife by locally elected officials began in 2021 and continues in this legislative session with the introduction of bills that go from bad to worse. Snaring and night shooting wolves, placing bounties on a hunt, loosening stipulations for killing grizzly bears, hounding black bears - the...
Republicans' number one goal this legislative session has been to provide financial relief to Montanans struggling with Joe Biden's inflation and the high cost of living. An early, priority package of eight pieces of legislation is aimed at delivering on that mission. Together, these bills combine to immediately put money in Montanans' pockets, provide long-term tax relief, and reduce taxpayer obligations into the future. House Bills 192 and 222 return over $700 million of...
Apparently, somebody won something last week, because MEIC and other anti-coal groups are claiming a VICTORY! On Friday February 10, 2023, Donald W. Molloy, US District Court Judge, Missoula, ordered that mining cease at Bull Mountains Underground Mine (north of Billings) in the 5 sections of federal coal that have been leased since 2012, until a new environmental report is written (20 months). This is not a new or future mining area. This "expansion" area has had all the...
The grizzly bear is a unique and vital part of Montana's wildlife heritage. Our state animal, the great bear once roamed throughout the plains of central Montana, before being extirpated from the flatlands by settlers, and relegated to the mountainous country of western Montana. Now, after decades of protection and conservation work-catalyzed and supported by its protection under the Endangered Species Act, the grizzly bear is beginning to recover in at least two out of six...
All Montanans have seen the bumper stickers and heard the chatter warning potential newcomers against changing Montana. This proud defense of our state often emanates from folks a lot like me; from hunters, anglers-people who love to hike our mountains and camp in the backcountry. Most of us have been quoting those bumper stickers assuming that any change would probably come from interlopers in rainbow-painted VW vans, or maybe from dangerously liberal urban yuppies with their...
Raising the minimum wage is one of the many policy ideas peppered with tradeoffs, but one of the few that have such a direct impact on businesses and employees alike. Lawmakers in Idaho and Montana have introduced legislation intended to raise the minimum wage. The legislation in Idaho has been introduced by Rep. Steve Berch. House Bill 48 would repeal a prohibition on local governments setting their own minimum wage. Meantime in Montana, House Bill 201 introduced by Rep....
With the holidays behind us and Congress gearing up for a new session, I look forward to continuing my mission fighting for our Montana way of life in Washington, D.C. Under President Biden and Democrat congressional leadership, Montanans are facing the highest inflation rate in three decades, driving up prices of everything from groceries to used cars. In addition, the wide-open southern border is allowing record amounts of fentanyl to devastate our communities, and the...
Submitted on behalf of Speaker of the House Rep. Matt Regier, Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Rhonda Knudsen and Major Leader Rep. Sue Vinton The 68th Montana Legislature is officially in session, and the House has already gaveled in. This year the state faces a unique challenge of deciding how to spend a $2 billion surplus. As leadership of the Montana House, our response to that challenge is supporting House Bill 192, introduced by Representative Bill Mercer of Billings. The bill...
As Montanans, we care for each other. Across the rural-urban divide, generational divide, and Brawl of the Wild divide. Of all our constituents across Montana, the most deserving are our elderly neighbors who are on Medicaid benefits. They have served Montana well, and at this final stage in their lives seek the promise of compassionate, medically appropriate care. Most of them are out of money, have used up their care options with family members and loved ones, and cannot...
The 68th Montana Legislature is officially in session. As Senate leadership, we're excited to see Senate Republicans getting to work on enacting conservative policy for our state. The last time the Legislature met, we successfully passed a conservative balanced budget, cut taxes for individuals and businesses, secured our Second Amendment rights, invested in public access to public lands and high speed broadband, and passed legislation to protect the unborn and further secure...
I'm not a pro-marijuana guy. I voted against Montana's adult-use cannabis initiative (I-190) in the 2020 election. However, since Montanans approved the initiative and recreational marijuana has taken effect in our state, I've been committed to following the will of the voters and making sure our new system works safely and effectively. One of the biggest barriers to that objective is outdated federal law that causes problems for states that have legalized cannabis. In...
The Biden administration has proposed a massive expansion of the IRS. Let's be clear about what that means for taxpayers. Biden's IRS expansion will have more-onerous filing requirements. More Americans will endure invasive audits. More Americans will face lawsuits by their own government. And all of us will spend more time and more money just to ensure we get our taxes right. This is no minor upgrade at the IRS. The Biden plan would increase the IRS budget six-fold and add...
As a fifth-generation Montanan, I didn't choose Montana - Montana chose me. Over 100 years ago, my great-great-grandmother homesteaded 23 miles east of Conrad, and that's how my family made it to the Last Best Place. And I'll be forever thankful for that. There is a lot that makes America an exceptional place to live, and the Thanksgiving tradition is one of them. It's an integral part of our uniquely American story. For the last 400 years, we have gathered with our families,...
The Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce meeting that is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Thursday Nov. 10 at the Lincoln Library will center on how to keep the business organization viable for the future. The future of the LVCC remains in doubt as the two current remaining directors - President Laurie Welty and Vice President Victor Johnson are set to leave when their terms expire at the end of this year. Former treasurer Erin Dey stepped back into the role on an interim basis, but...
Election Day is around the corner, and one of the most fundamental rights we have as American citizens is the right to vote. With so much at stake this year, I encourage you to ask yourself the following: Who will push back against the Democrats' reckless tax and spend agenda that has left Montana families choosing between gas or groceries? Who will defend our Montana way of life and protect our Second Amendment rights? Who will work to secure the southern border? And lastly,...
Do you like scary movies? You don’t have to rent a horror movie this Halloween to feel spooked—just take a look at what President Biden and the Democrats have done since they took control of the White House and Congress. Inflation is clocking in at forty-year highs. It can cost Montana families over $100 just to fill up their tank. Fentanyl from the open southern border is wreaking havoc across Montana. Good-paying energy jobs have been nixed. Our small-town communities are...
Americans, and Montanans in particular, are blessed to stand on the shoulders of giants. Fortunately for us, wise and brave leaders have shown us the way forward to fulfill the idea and ideals of America. While our country has fallen short of those lofty goals from time to time, those aims are true and worthy of pursuit. And America soldiers on. As a young girl I thrilled to the courage and wisdom of American leaders, long dead, whose thoughts and actions provided a road map t...
‘A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.’ The Constitutional right to keep and bear arms that is enumerated in the Second Amendment is not something that was written with the intent to be subject to exceptions. It wasn’t written to change with the times, but to stand the test of time. Our Founding Fathers knew how important this right was in their time, and how important it was to include it in the Constitution for the st...
It's election season, also known as the season of misleading information. A prime example is what appears to be Montana Democrats' main talking point on legislative races: "If the Republicans can flip just two more legislative seats, they're coming after the constitution." What the Democrats fail to mention is that the Legislature cannot change Montana's Constitution. It says right there in the constitution that any proposed amendments have to be voted on by Montana voters....
As a pediatric hospice and palliative medicine physician for many years, I can speak directly to the unfathomable harm that a ballot initiative called LR-131 would cause. Titled the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, the initiative is an extreme, unnecessary, and cruel limitation of family decision-making that you'll see on the ballot this November. Although LR-131 purports to be about protecting infants, it requires health care providers to perform invasive and painful...
This November Montanans will vote on an important referendum called "An Act Adopting The Born-Alive Infant Protection Act." This act will do just what the title states, protect babies that are born alive, even those born after a failed attempt to abort a child. A few that are opposed to this protection are trying to spin this referendum to be about terminal babies or women's health. However, the ballot language is clear; "A health care provider shall take medically appropriate...
In 2019, WWII veteran Forrest Allen passed away, bequeathing 5,677 acres in Golden Valley County to the Shodair Children's Hospital. Today, as a member of the Board of Land Commissioners, I was proud to vote in favor of purchasing this land for public use. The purchase, known as the Snowy Mountain Acquisition, is a win for all Montanans and embodies our state's spirit and generosity. Public lands near this property have been nearly inaccessible to most Montanans for years....
