Montana recently received an infrastructure report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the state’s school infrastructure earned a “D” grade. The average age of school facilities in Montana is 53 years old with more than 2/3 of the schools built before 1970. Few facilities have plans on updating and maintaining this infr...
Montana’s cannabis industry sales are expected to exceed $1 billion just three years after legalization. Monthly sales average around $25 million indicating the billion-dollar mark will likely be hit early next year. From January to November this year customers spent nearly $300 million on marijuana products bringing the total since legalizati...
The cost of housing a prisoner varies from state to state due to factors like utility costs and officer salaries. In Montana it costs 64,000 a year. The Treasure State ranks 27th in the nation with an incarceration rate of 758 per 100,000 residents. The statistics for the cost comes from Visual Capitalist while the incarceration rate comes fro...
American Pacific Mining Corporation has announced significant assay results from its 2024 field program at the Madison Copper-Gold Project. American Pacific reports gold grades reached as high as 80.6 grams per ton alongside notable copper and silver findings reinforcing the project’s potential. The company is currently in the permitting pro...
In 2023 the Montana Legislature approved House Bill 819 investing into a series of measures to address the need for affordable housing. $50 million will be distributed by counties through “community reinvestment organizations” to buy down up to 30% of the purchase price on a home for eligible families. If a county wants to participate in the ...
Congress has two weeks to avoid a government shutdown and there is little confidence about the passage of a new farm bill. This week several Republican governors including Montana’s Greg Gianforte wrote a letter to congressional leaders pressing for a new one. The 2018 Farm Bill officially expired in September and progress on the legislation h...
U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson has ordered federal wildlife officials to decide by January 20th whether Yellowstone-area grizzly bears should be delisted from the Endangered Species Act. That could speed up a potential handover of authority to Montana Wyoming and Idaho opening the door for grizzly bear hunting. Eight Montana media orga...
Affordable housing remains a pressing issue in Montana with home prices rising significantly. The Montana Association of Realtors reports that the median home price has increased by nearly 90% over the past five years. Governor Greg Gianforte has proposed a biennium budget aimed at addressing the issue. It includes money for the Montana Housin...
Montana is one of nine states that could end Medicaid expansion coverage if the federal government cuts funding as some allies of President-elect Donald Trump have proposed. Montana’s law rolls back expansion below 90% funding but allows it to continue if lawmakers identify additional funding. Under state law Montana lawmakers must reauthorize...
The biennial legislative session starts in January and legislators met Tuesday to propose changes to the rules that will dictate how they operate over the 90-day term. Joint Rules Committee members voted not to implement a proposal that would have banned transgender women from using the women’s bathroom reserved for legislators between the Hou...
