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By Wednesday, Montana banks had made about $500 million in loans to about 5,300 small businesses as part of a new federal program that began April 3. The federal government no longer releases state-level data on the initiative — called the paycheck protection program — which provides loans to businesses to help them remain open and avoid layoffs as they grapple with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. “We have been asked not to provide local data yet,” said Brent Donnelly, deputy director for the Montana office of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the federal agency overseeing the paycheck protection program.

U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester have announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be providing $111,503,248 million for Montana hospitals and providers during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, a portion of this funding will go towards covering costs of uninsured patients for coronavirus related care. “This is about ensuring we have the critical resources needed to provide our hospitals and healthcare professionals on the front lines the tools they need to combat the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic,” Daines said. “It is one of my top priorities to protect public health and I will continue working

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said during a telephone town hall Thursday that he’s heard concerns from small business owners that the Payroll Protection Program will run out of money. He said the program still has money for now, but he shares this concern given that the program has given out 5,300 loans to Montana businesses since Tuesday. “We need to get ahead of that… this is really critical to our small businesses,” he said. Daines touted the accomplishments of Montana’s smaller financial institutions and their handling of new loan programs. “Many of these community banks and credit unions rose

Sen. Steve Daines sat down with MTN News for a remote interview from his home office on Friday. Watch MTN’s Kaitlin Corbett and Sen. Daines talk about financial relief efforts underway to help small businesses and workers across Montana.

Note: The information in this release was provided by the offices of the Montana governor and U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte  Montana’s governor and its congressional delegates have announced the federal government is providing funding to the Montana National Guard to help respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. Gov. Steve Bullock announced Wednesday that the federal government will cover all approved costs incurred by the National Guard, even though the Montana National Guard Soldiers and Airmen remain under the command and direction of the governor. “I’m pleased the president recognizes that Montana is working hard to fight this virus,” Bullock, who is

BOZEMAN- With over 10 million Americans unemployed and 45,000 Montanans looking for unemployment help the stimulus check that is coming could be a massive relief right now.  So there are some questions surrounding what you could be receiving under the corona economic stimulus package. One of the big questions surrounding the checks, are you going to be taxed on it. “Those checks are not to be taxed,” Senator Steve Daines said, “so that $1200 check you receive as a single person, after $75,000 income… it starts to decrease up to $100,000, up to 75,000 income you get a $1200 check