Arren Kimbel-Sannit
Election look: Possible GOP supermajority, a midterm environment, looming House races
With a pair of U.S. House seats up for grabs, the possibility for a supermajority in the state Legislature, and the first two years of the Biden administration on the ballot, the stakes are high, the gears of political machinery at Democratic and Republican headquarters in the state are turning, and key themes are emerging.
Tester, Daines at odds over Biden Federal Reserve pick amid GOP boycott
The panel was set to take a vote on the five nominees, including incumbent Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a Trump appointee, Tuesday afternoon, but Brown was forced to delay the decision due to the absence of the committee’s 12 Republicans — exactly half of its members.
Gianforte: Special session OK, but only if to draw new PSC districts
Gov. Greg Gianforte and Republican legislative leaders said Tuesday they in principle agree with emerging calls from the caucus for a special session to redraw Public Service Commission districts before the 2022 election, but cast skepticism over a request to use that special session to create and fund a select committee on election integrity.
Economic recovery in 2021 didn’t help Montana’s housing crisis
Industry leaders and economists have been on something of a roadshow to cities across the state this winter with a singular message: Poor housing affordability continues to dog Montana and Montanans into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, even amid economic recovery in other areas, and when relief might come isn’t clear.
Montana DEQ seeks grant to bolster air quality monitoring
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is looking to expand its air quality monitoring as particulate pollution from wildfire smoke becomes more severe across the state and region, officials told a legislative interim panel this week.
Montana will distribute 650,000 free COVID-19 rapid tests
Officials said they anticipate the tests will arrive by January 24, at which time the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services will allocate the tests to public health departments.
Conservation group: EPA failing to protect Montana’s ‘world-class waterways’
A Montana environmental organization is ratcheting up its effort to halt the repeal of numeric nutrient water quality standards for streams and rivers in the state, filing a notice this week that it intends to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over the federal government’s inaction on the changes.
Gianforte: ‘The state does not need to exercise emergency powers’ to combat omicron
Gov. Greg Gianforte acknowledged the high degree of transmissibility of the omicron COVID-19 variant but maintained at a press conference Tuesday at the Capitol that Montana would not return to a state of emergency or implement a vaccine mandate.
Industry, customers exhale with beginning of adult-use pot in Montana
In addition to creating access to a market of marijuana consumers of unprecedented size in Montana, the passage of I-190 signaled something of a shift in virtues. More than half of Montana voters agreed: Possession of marijuana, in most instances, wasn’t worth a jail sentence, at least not while there’s money to be made.
Montana to change the way state prisoners are counted
The Montana Districting and Apportionment commission is moving forward with its plan to change how incarcerated people in the state are counted for the purposes of legislative redistricting, voting to send out a request for proposal to vendors who may be able to do the necessary analysis in a meeting earlier this month.