A beef processing plant near Livingston plans to open by 2022 to butcher meat for food banks and ranches with direct retail sales. The Producer Partnership’s should be capable of processing 300 animals a month. In the past year the group has donated 80,000 pounds of hamburger to the Montana Food Bank Network and Tom Lutey of the Billings...
Gianforte Signs Vaccination Bill Into Law
Governor Greg Gianforte has signed House Bill 702 bill into law. It is now illegal for most businesses or organizations to require staff visitors patients or customers be vaccinated in order to access a facility. Previously, hospitals and other medical providers were still able to require that staff be vaccinated against baseline vaccinations ...
Legal Challenge To SB 140 Denied By Supreme Court
The state Supreme Court denied former Republican and Democratic state officials’ motion Thursday to expand their legal challenge against Senate Bill 140 that granted the governor a broader selection to fill judicial vacancies after they motioned the court to include Senate Bill 402 the backup to the original legislation. The justices noted bil...
Gianforte Signs Two Tax-Reducing Bills Into Law
Governor Greg Gianforte signed two bills into law Thursday. Senate Bill 159 reduces Montana’s top income tax rate to 6.75% beginning next year. Senate Bill 399 reduces it to 6.5% in 2024 simplifies Montana’s tax code and reduces the number of tax rates from seven to two. Montana will stop supplemental unemployment insurance payment...
Montana To Start Return-To-Work Program With ARPA Funds
Governor Greg Gianforte says Montana will launch a return-to-work bonus program using federal funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act. Return-to-work bonuses will be paid to unemployed individuals who rejoin the labor force and accept and maintain steady employment for at least one month. The state will end its participation in federa...
Colstrip Bill Gets Taken To State Courts
A new law approved by Governor Greg Gianforte Monday was met by a lawsuit Tuesday with a majority of the owners of the Colstrip Power Plant calling it unconstitutional. It forces disputes among the power plant’s six owners to be settled through Montana courts instead of Washington as currently spelled out by the Colstrip Ownership and Operatio...
Give Big Gallatin Valley Virtual Event Begins Thursday
House Bill 429 has been signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte. It requires a majority of lawmakers in both the House and Senate to approve of any emergency suspensions of the election laws in the state. If the Legislature isn’t in session at the time, the new law requires the Secretary of State to poll lawmakers on the proposed change in ...
Department of Revenue Warns Of Tax Return Scams
Governor Greg Gianforte signed two laws Monday nullifying portions of the Colstrip Ownership and Operation Agreement that has governed the Colstrip Power Plant for 40 years. In a tweet, he described the new laws as retaliation against Washington clean energy laws that have imposed a ban on coal power that begins at the end of 2025. Beware of s...
Vaccine Bill Clears Legislature
With Mother’s Day around the corner and mothers regaining jobs lost due to COVID-19 at a faster rate than fathers, the personal finance website Wallet Hub today released its report on 2021’s best states for working moms. Montana ranks 23rd based on 17 key metrics. The data set ranges from the median women’s salary to the female unemployment ra...
U.S. Fish Wildlife And Parks To Look Into Gianforte’s Bison Proposal
U.S. officials said they will consider whether to reintroduce wild bison to a million-acre (400,000-hectare) federal wildlife refuge in central Montana. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans in July, “to engage Tribes and stakeholders on the topics of bison and bighorn sheep reintroductions” on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refug...