Missoulian: Congress: Lock in full PILT funding by Christmas
Montana’s congressional delegation is joining with dozens of other U.S. senators and representatives in urging their leaders to figure out quickly how to fully fund a program that supplied more than $29 million to Montana counties this year. Payments In Lieu of Taxes help offset losses in property taxes because of nontaxable federal lands: national forests and parks, as well as Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service lands. The U.S. Department of Interior estimates it’ll take $452 million to fully fund it in the nearly 1,900 affected counties across 49 states. U.S. Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Jon
Sen. Daines: We Need Innovation, Not Regulation
The University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) just released a study that confirms what many of us feared – President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is a job killer poised to be the “most significant economic event to occur in Montana in more than 30 years.” The full impact of President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency will be felt the hardest by those who can least afford it – Montana families and small business owners. Families will see a $500 million loss in annual income, and communities will go without $145 million per year in revenue that would
Bloomberg BNA: GOP Lawmakers Query FCC on Enforcement, Net Neutrality
Congressional Republicans in both chambers peppered the FCC with questions about its Enforcement Bureau and the impact of its net neutrality rules on small businesses, in two letters sent to agency Chairman Tom Wheeler late Nov. 19. GOP senators weighed in on the practices of an Enforcement Bureau that has become more aggressive under its current chief, Travis LeBlanc. Against the backdrop of an ongoing legal dispute over the agency’s controversial Open Internet rules, a raft of House Republicans wrote the FCC, urging it to exempt small Internet service providers from transparency requirements. Five members of the Senate Commerce, Science
KYYA: Daines, Zinke Work to Protect Port of Raymond Operational Hours
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Montana Senator Steve Daines and Representative Ryan Zinke today urged U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials to reverse plans to reduce operating hours at the Port of Raymond and terminate the northeastern Montana border crossing’s 24-hour operating status. In a letter to CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, Daines and Zinke highlighted the important role that the Port of Raymond holds for regional economic activity and the overwhelming local concern surrounding CBP’s recent decision to reduce operating hours. “Terminating the Port of Raymond’s 24-hour status would create costly route diversions and impair the flow of goods in an important economic corridor,” Daines
Daines, Zinke Work to Protect Port of Raymond Operational Hours
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Montana Senator Steve Daines and Representative Ryan Zinke today urged U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials to reverse plans to reduce operating hours at the Port of Raymond and terminate the northeastern Montana border crossing’s 24-hour operating status. In a letter to CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, Daines and Zinke highlighted the important role that the Port of Raymond holds for regional economic activity and the overwhelming local concern surrounding CBP’s recent decision to reduce operating hours. “Terminating the Port of Raymond’s 24-hour status would create costly route diversions and impair the flow of goods in an important economic corridor,” Daines
Tester, Daines call on Senate to fully fund critical payments to Montana counties
PILT helps 55 Montana counties pay for essential services (Montana) – Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines are calling on Senate leaders to fully fund a critical tool for Montana counties. Tester and Daines urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to fully fund Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) for the 2016 Fiscal Year. PILT payments are made by the Department of the Interior to 55 Montana counties with federal lands that are not taxable by local governments, but the lands’ presence creates demands for local government services, such as law enforcement and infrastructure.
Flathead Beacon: Montana Congressional Delegation Urges Senate Leaders to Fully Fund LWCF
With bipartisan support, proponents are hopeful for revival of expired conservation fund Both of Montana’s U.S. Senators and the state’s lone U.S. House Representative have joined in a unified front to advance a measure that would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which expired Sept. 30. U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Republican Steve Daines stood among 14 senators from both sides of the aisle this week, calling for Senate leaders to permanently reauthorize the LWCF by attaching mandatory funding to a must-pass bill facing Congress before the session clock winds down. Tester and Daines both signed the
Missoulian: Study: EPA’s Clean Power Plan could lead to closure of Colstrip plants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, if enacted, could lead to the closure of the four-unit power-generating station in Colstrip, according to a study released last week by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana. “If you look at the emissions of Colstrip and the amount of tonnages that Montana has to eliminate, it does not mathematically show that Colstrip has to go. But it clearly indicates that it’s going to affect Colstrip in some way,” said Patrick Barkey, BBER’s director and the lead author of the report. The EPA released the final rule for
Daines Honors Montanan of the Week: Mary Crawford of Stevensville
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In honor of National Adoption Month, Senator Steve Daines today honored Mrs. Mary Crawford, an adoptive parent from Stevensville, Montana. Mary and her husband have selflessly opened their homes and hearts to nine foster children, six of whom they have since adopted. Daines is an original cosponsor of S.Res. 315, a resolution to designate November as National Adoption Month and November 21 as National Adoption Day. The resolution passed the Senate unanimously this week. There are 415,000 children currently in the United States foster care system and 108,000 of those are waiting to be adopted. Through his “Montanan of the