Articles with the Tag: Montana Free Press

Montana homeowners have until Oct. 1 to apply for rebates of up to $400 on their 2024 property tax bills, relief that is one component of a bipartisan push by lawmakers and Gov. Greg Gianforte to address rising residential property taxes. According to the Montana Department of Revenue, the rebates are ava...
A group of tribes in Montana alleges a new election law will disenfranchise Native voters and has moved to join a lawsuit challenging it. On Tuesday, the ACLU of Montana, American Civil Liberties Union nationally and Native American Rights Fund filed a motion to intervene in an existing case on behalf of ...
Legislation signed May 12 by Gov. Greg Gianforte offers a path toward resolving a long-standing law enforcement dispute between the state of Montana, Lake County and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. At the center of the conflict is Public Law 280, a 1950s-era federal law that shifted law enf...

Lawmakers have proposed two bills this session that aim to resolve a long-standing law enforcement dispute between the state of Montana, Lake County and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. At the center of the conflict is Public Law 280, a federal law that shifts law enforcement jurisdiction on s...

Montana farmers are worried about being whipsawed in a trade war as the United States trades tariffs on farm products with China, Canada and Mexico. Wheat and lentil exports are likely to face tougher markets in the coming year as tariffs erode favorable trade terms in Canada and China, producers told Mon...

On the banks of the Flathead River, along an oxbow southeast of Kalispell, a pair of million-dollar homes sit adjacent to each other on large lots. At a glance, they appear quite similar, each the sort of rural dream house that has become an inescapable part of Montana’s landscape. A look at their t...

MONTANA — Concealing the back-channel communications between lawmakers, lobbyists and stakeholders when drafting bills amounts to the Legislature violating the state’s Constitution, a coalition of media outlets including Montana Free Press argued in court Friday. Appearing before Distric...
MISSOULA — Montana’s Medicaid expansion program will sunset in 2025, barring its renewal before the Montana Legislature, and its passage is by no means secured ahead of what could be a busy session. State Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, the Republican majority leader in his chamber, said that Medicaid...

by Alex Sakariassen, Montana Free Press BILLINGS — Throughout the 2023-24 school year, Billings Public Schools Superintendent Erwin Garcia grew increasingly troubled by a sight he repeatedly witnessed in classrooms around the district: students scrolling their smartphones, their attention wrenched...
Applications, nominations for Twentieth Judicial District vacancy sought News from the office of Governor Gianforte HELENA — Governor Greg Gianforte is now accepting applications and nominations to fill a district court judge vacancy in the Twentieth Judicial District. The chie...