Eric Dietrich

Montana’s Senate voted unanimously Friday to override the first veto issued by Gov. Greg Gianforte, defending a bill that would make it easier for the Legislature to repeal administrative rules issued by state agencies. 

Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration is renewing a push to modernize Montana’s corporate income tax code to better reflect the state’s 21st-century economy, backing a new, less ambitious bill after a prior measure stalled in the face of industry opposition.

Republicans in the Montana Senate voted Tuesday to advance a trio of income tax cut bills backed by Gov. Greg Gianforte — and Republicans in the Senate and on the House Taxation Committee swatted two tax bills pitched by Democrats.

House Bill 303, sponsored by Rep. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, would raise the threshold where the tax kicks in from $100,000 in business equipment to $200,000. Proponents say it will boost small businesses by exempting more of their property from state taxes.

Two years after passing a program designed to increase the number of affordable apartments available in Montana communities by letting housing developers use the state’s coal trust fund as a bank for low-interest loans, Montana lawmakers are considering doubling the funding available for the program. 

A bill under consideration by the Montana Legislature would give legislators more opportunity to check emergency powers granted to the governor in long-running disaster situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In advance of a historically routine vote Jan. 6 by which the U.S. Senate endorses the results of the 2020 presidential election, U.S. Sen. Daines said Saturday he will join several other Republican senators in voting against certification of the Electoral College count awarding the presidency to Joe Biden. Instead, Daines and some peers want Congress to appoint an election commission to take again review the November vote, potentially creating a path to overturn the results of the election before Biden is sworn into office Jan. 20 by giving Republican-controlled legislatures in disputed states a chance switch their electoral votes from Biden to Trump.

Leadership roles for the 2021 session indicate that pragmatic Republicans in the “Solutions Caucus” faction will continue to play key roles in shaping state policy as Montana enters a new world of unified Republican control.

The Montana GOP's legislative leaders say they’re still working to define the priorities the party will bring to the Capitol when lawmakers meet this winter to craft a budget and debate changes to state law.

It’s an open question how quickly state revenues will rebound from the pandemic as individual Montanans and businesses earn less and pay less in income taxes, the state’s most important source of funding.