In The News

Wal-Mart will give more than $3.8 million in pay increases and bonuses to 3,340 of its Montana workers as part of its plan to raise its starting hourly wage nationwide to $11 in a move that company officials credited to recent tax reforms passed in Congress. Wal-Mart, the state’s third-largest employer, also said Monday it would provide a one-time cash bonus for $1,000 to eligible associates as it expands its benefits. “These dollars are coming from the tax savings that the company is realizing from recent legislation,” said Tiffany Wilson, Wal-Mart communications director. “With this new tax savings, we wanted to

Montana U.S. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester was one of 18 no votes in the U.S. Senate Monday on a bill to reopen the federal government and fund it through mid-February. Democratic and Republican senators in Congress disagreed over spending and immigration on Friday, which forced the shutdown over the weekend. The Senate advanced a bill Monday to reopen the government with a temporary budget. The bill passed 81-18 in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed to negotiate on immigration and spending matters during that time. During a press call on Monday,

Montana Republicans Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte voted Monday to end the three-day government shutdown and reauthorize a children’s health care program.  The bill passed with 81 votes – with 18 senators voting no, Daines said. He said the bill includes a six-year reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which 24,000 Montana kids use, and will keep the government open until Feb. 8. “It was pointless to shut the government down,” he said. Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester opposed the bill, saying it failed to provide certainty for Montana. “Montanans deserve better. A short-term, 17-day budget is

Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester both spoke on the Senate floor on Saturday about the effects the government shutdown has on Montanans. “I’m here to make on point crystal clear for those Montanans who are wondering what is going on with their government,” Senator Daines said. “The reason that the government has shut down is because a controversial illegal immigration policy was not included in a bill that funds the government.” Senator Tester said he would not let Washington fail Montana anymore. “Congress has failed for 112 days,” he said. “The budget ran out in September of last year.

A Republican senator from Montana says the Trump administration is trying to minimize the effects of the government shutdown by keeping at least some national parks open, but former President Barack Obama tried to make shutdowns painful for the American people. Sen. Steve Daines said Saturday that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a former Montana congressman, wants to keep Montana’s Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park open. Most of Yellowstone is in Wyoming but three of the five entrances are in Montana. On Saturday, Zinke tweeted, “Not all national parks are fully open but we’re working hard to make as much accessible as is

The U.S. House passed a temporary government-wide funding bill that would avert a government shutdown this weekend. The measure still faces iffy prospects in the Senate, where Democrats are poised to block it in hopes of spurring slow-moving talks on immigration. The measure would keep the government running through Feb. 16. Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines both spoke out about the spending measure Thursday. Before the measure passed the House of Representatives Daines urged his colleagues to pass the short-term measure, which would also fund the Child Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP. He took to the floor of

Five Republican senators on Friday urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to schedule a vote on a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The bill, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, is unlikely to pass because it will need at least 60 votes in the Senate and does not have enough votes even if all 51 Republicans were to support it. But anti-abortion activists have urged leaders for a vote because they want to have senators on the record with their vote ahead of the midterm elections. “A vote would make our constituents immediately aware of

A bill to name a peak in the Madison Range for a prominent conservationist has cleared both the U.S. House and Senate, and will now be sent to President Donald Trump for his signature. The bill will dub an unnamed peak in the Madison Range for the late Alex Diekmann, who worked as a project manager for the Trust for Public Land out of its Bozeman office. Diekmann died of cancer in 2016. The bill cleared the U.S. Senate in late December and was passed out of the U.S. House on Tuesday. In a news release issued by the Trust

Senator Steve Daines announced the need to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years and keep the government open. He is supporting a proposal that would do both. “24,000 Montana children depend on CHIP for vital health care services,” said Daines. “I am announcing my full support for a bill now moving through Congress that reauthorizes this critical program while avoiding a damaging government shutdown. It is inexcusable to let partisanship deny Montana families the certainty that this long-term CHIP re authorization brings.” The House and Senate are expected to vote this week on legislation that would