According to a 2021 report from the Federal Communications Commission Montana was the 46th ranked state for broadband access. Currently, the spending bill to direct federal COVID money in Montana has set aside $275 million for the broadband program. Expanding broadband infrastructure has emerged as a top priority in the 67th Legislative Sessio...
Gianforte Signs Trade Education Bill Into Law
Governor Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 252 into law Monday that will help businesses hire and train skilled workers. The Montana Trades Education Credit provides $1 million per year in 50% tax credits to businesses for qualified training and education expenses. The almost $3 trillion American Rescue Plan was a topic of discussion on Voices ...
Legislative Session To Resume After COVID-19-Related Cancellation
Today the Capitol will be back to normal as far as the 67th Legislative Session is concerned after floor sessions and several committee hearings were cancelled last Thursday because of a lobbyist having COVID-19 and the related exposure to legislators but no lawmakers have tested positive. All legislators who are close contacts to the lobbyist...
Montana Department Of Justice Completes Assessment Of Meth Use In Montana
A needs assessment that was completed late last year by the Montana Department of Justice but has yet to be made public provides insight into the state’s battle with methamphetamine from the perspectives of 99 former users. The Daily Interlake reports the assessment comes roughly two years after the justice department noted the number of...
Marijuana Amendments Make Way To Committee
Today senators on a special legislative committee are scheduled to roll three bills into one and build Montana’s recreational marijuana program. James Bradley from the University of Montana Legislative News Service reports Hamilton Republican Senator Jason Ellsworth is the committee chair tasked with implementing the legalization of recreation...
Recently Signed Bills May Aid Disable Voters’ Submissions
Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Troy Downing has announced a rulemaking to strengthen consumer rights in the bail bond industry A typical premium on a bond in Montana is 10%. The new rules establish how bail bondsmen maintain this premium which is not regulated in statute and is only subject to marketplace competition. The Montana Leg...
Rural Montana Schools Struggling To Fill Vacancies
The problem of high turnover remains the same across Montana where 65% of rural schools in remote settings report difficulty filling vacancies compared with 35% of nonrural schools. This school year, with the coronavirus pandemic making it even harder to bring in teachers from elsewhere, education leaders in the state issued 122 emergency waiv...
Gianforte Signs Public Health Revisions Bill
Governor Greg Gianforte has signed House Bill 121 into law. It revises how local public health officials can respond to the pandemic or a future public health emergency. It requires either county commissioners or city council, whichever entity oversees a local health board, to approve of that board or officer’s regulations put in place. ...
MSU To Give Screenings To Blackfeet Children Through Grant
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that will determine who is eligible to receive more than $530 million in federal virus relief funding. $8 million was set aside for Native American tribes more than a year ago that hasn’t been distributed. Universal testing and business closures and historically have had limited f...
State Legislature To Resume After Positive COVID-19 Case
The state Legislature will be back to normal Tuesday with floor sessions and in-person committee meetings with the House gaveling back in at 10 and the senate at one. This comes after fewer than a dozen legislators who were close contacts of a lobbyist COVID-19 case announced they are quarantining following public health protocols. No legislat...