Independent candidate Elena Evans cleared to run for PSC
Elena Evans of Missoula will face incumbent District 4 commissioner Jennifer Fielder, a Republican from Thompson Falls who came to the commission after serving in the Montana Legislature.
Latest Government Reporting
Judge strikes down Montana law defining sex as only male or female for procedural reasons
A judge struck down a Montana law that defined “sex” in state law as only male or female, finding that it was unconstitutional.
Film and TV crews spent $334 million in Montana during last two years, legislators told
Film and TV companies spent $334 million in Montana over the past two years, according to numbers released to state legislators. Television, including the filming of the “Yellowstone,” franchise was the big contributor with $275.7 million spent between July 2022 and May 2024.
FWP employee fired three months after being cleared of hunting-without-permission charge
Longtime FWP employee Michael Volesky, who most recently served as the agency’s chief of operations, said the department has no defensible cause for terminating his employment three months after a county attorney dropped the hunting without permission charges that purportedly led to the department’s decision to place Volesky on an extended period of administrative leave.
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MORE GOVERNMENT REPORTING
By the Numbers: special session edition
Three distinct calls for special sessions of the Montana Legislature have been voted down in mail polls, per results announced by the Montana secretary of state.
State environmental quality director appointed to lead highway department
The office of Gov. Greg Gianforte has announced that Chris Dorrington, a longtime state official who has led the Montana Department of Environmental Quality since 2021, will be taking the helm at the Montana Department of Transportation. Current DEQ division administrator Sonja Nowakowski will be promoted to DEQ director.
Legislature v. judiciary
Lawmakers on the newly formed Senate Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform covered little new ground in their efforts to reshape Montana’s judicial system in their first meeting, but they at least got a lesson in constitutional law.
Explosive growth, tourism weigh heavy on western Montana’s aging roads
Growing populations and tourism in western Montana are straining aging roads, leaving state and local governments to fix problems or make improvements with limited funding.
Transgender Montanans challenge state’s rule barring changes to sex listed on birth certificates
The state prevents Montanas from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates except in the case of a clerical error.
Updated: Applications for state property tax assistance programs now June 1
Low-income Montanans seeking help paying their property tax bills now have until June 1 to apply for aid through two state relief programs intended to keep property tax bills from forcing low-income homeowners out of their homes.
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MORE GOVERNMENT REPORTING
Gianforte announces Montana National Guard deployment to Texas border
Gov. Greg Gianforte announced that the state is deploying a small number of Montana National Guard personnel to the nation’s southern border, describing the action as an effort to help the state of Texas address cross-border drug trafficking in light of what he described as inaction by the federal government.
Push to poll Cascade County voters on reinstating clerk’s election duties falls short
An effort by supporters of Cascade County Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant to reinstate the election oversight duties stripped from her by county commissioners in December has proved unsuccessful. Petitioners looking to put the issue up for a reconsideration vote on the June primary ballot were still thousands of signatures short of the total required…
Safety net consolidation means closures for longtime nonprofits
Last fall, the state Department of Public Health and Human Services announced it would be seeking a single, statewide contractor to provide employment assistance and training to Montanans receiving food and cash aid from SNAP and TANF, two of the state’s most prominent public safety net programs. In January, the state tapped Maximus, a global…
Global company prepares to take on statewide public assistance contract
A global, private company is beginning to release details of how it plans to handle its new $15 million state contract to deliver employment assistance and training for some Montanans who receive public food, cash and refugee resettlement assistance.
Gianforte says state not responsible for tribal law enforcement in Lake County
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has informed the Lake County Commission that the state will not assume felony law enforcement duties on the Flathead Indian Reservation — despite pleas from local officials that they can no longer afford a decades-old arrangement.
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