Montana Politics: Latest News

Hanna’s Act has passed both chambers of the Montana legislature and is on its way to the Governor’s desk.

The future of the proposal to prolong the life of the Colstrip 4 power plant, by encouraging NorthWestern Energy to buy a larger share of the plant, appeared in doubt Tuesday, as legislative leaders held off on appointing a panel that could resurrect it.

Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed three bills late last week, including one that would have exempted more Social Security income from state taxation.

Election officials around Montana are mailing out ballots this month for school and special district elections in May.

Professional firefighters from across Montana are celebrating as Senate Bill 160, or the Health and Safety Bill, was signed into law Thursday.

State lawmakers gave their final approval Thursday to two major proposals — the continuation of Medicaid expansion and the first state construction bonding bill in several sessions — as they neared the finish line of the 2019 Montana Legislature.

A new group is seeking to let voters decide for themselves if the recreational use of marijuana should be legalized in the Treasure State.

After a turbulent journey through the Montana Legislature, the bill named after Hanna Harris, who was found murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in 2013, passed the Senate 37-13 Tuesday.

The Montana House Thursday breathed new life into the bill to authorize and help finance a new, $48 million Montana Historical Society museum in Helena, voting to “blast” it from committee to the House floor.

More reform is coming to how law enforcement and health professionals handle sexual assaults and specifically rape kits in Montana.

A one-sentence bill that morphed into a nine-page, $38 million legislative behemoth is a key element of the 2019 Montana Legislature’s final budget dance — and so are a few other of these so-called “companion bills,” which have drawn a skeptical eye from some lawmakers.

To honor firefighters who have lost their lives to on-the-job illnesses, Bullock has ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff on Thursday April 18.

Senator Steve Daines stopped by the set of Montana This Morning to discuss the latest issues impacting Montanans and the country.

The Montana House has voted down a bill aimed at encouraging NorthWestern Energy to buy a larger interest in the Colstrip 4 power plant — just a day after it passed a preliminary vote.

The anti-DUI measure that sparked a political furor Saturday, when it was revived by cramming it into another bill, is now dead, after the bill’s sponsor decided to pull the measure from the Senate floor.

A bill intended to encourage NorthWestern Energy to buy a larger interest in the Colstrip 4 power plant passed a preliminary vote in the Montana House Monday.

Congressman Greg Gianforte is seriously considering a run for governor in 2020.

The Montana Senate on Monday narrowly revived and then advanced the bill to continue the state’s $700 million-a-year Medicaid expansion program, breathing life back into one of the key measures before the 2019 Legislature.

The Montana House has endorsed a major reform to Montana’s medical marijuana system.

HELENA — The bill to continue Medicaid expansion in Montana — one of the key measures before the 2019 Legislature — was revived in the state Senate Monday morning by the narrowest of votes, setting up another debate and vote to possible move the bill toward approval. The Senate voted 26-24 to place

A bill that would increase protections for firefighters who develop cancer or other illnesses after their time on the job has cleared its last legislative hurdle.

A toughening of Montana’s drunken-driving laws, proposed by Attorney General Tim Fox, got new life at the Legislature Saturday — but not before some tense, testy exchanges among legislators and lobbyists over what they saw as backdoor power play to cram the proposal and other items into a new bill.

On Friday, Democrats asked the Senate to take up Medicaid expansion again, but leaders of the Republican majority argued against it.

The Montana House has given preliminary approval to a proposal to increase an optional vehicle fee to support state parks and trails.

Advocates say they’re hopeful that the Montana Legislature will be able to pass a pair of bills addressing what they have called the “epidemic” of missing and murdered Native Americans in the state. Both bills had been stalled in committee, but are now alive once again.

A resolution was introduced in the Montana House of Representatives this week that would honor survivors of sexual assault.

The bill to continue Montana’s $700 million-a-year Medicaid expansion program failed on a 25-25 vote in the state Senate Thursday, setting up a last-ditch effort to revive the measure on Friday.

A Montana House committee Thursday voted to kill the measure that would authorize construction of a new, $48 million museum for the Montana Historical Society in Helena, and increase the state lodging tax to help fund it.

Lawmakers delayed action Wednesday on two of the biggest bills at the 2019 Legislature — Medicaid expansion and the so-called “save Colstrip” bill — as their respective fates appear to be part of final negotiations in the last two weeks of the Legislature.

During Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., Senator Steve Daines spoke about how the missing and murdered indigenous women crisis needs immediate attention.