In The News

U.S. SENATE — Just ahead of Veterans Day, U.S. Senator Steve Daines introduced legislation to ensure that underserved veterans get the care they need.   Daines’ bill, “Veteran State Home Grant Backlog Reduction Act” will create a new prioritization system that will separate out upgrades and needed rehabilitation to existing VA facilities and much-needed new construction. It requires the VA to separately designate construction specific budget resources and have a plan to clear up the state home construction backlog by the end of Fiscal Year 2023.   “Montana is home to one of the highest populations of veterans per capita

Senator Steve Daines is upset because the National Park Service announced it is considering raising the entrance fees during peak season for 17 National Parks, including Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park in Montana.  The proposal, would change the fee from $30 to $70 per vehicle. The price per person would go from $15 to $30. The current public comment period will end on November 23, 2017. “Glacier and Yellowstone National Park – are national treasures that belong to Montanans and Americans across the country” said Daines. “Fee increases of this magnitude could prohibit families from enjoying the great

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) on Friday introduced the Veteran State Home Grant Backlog Reduction Act of 2017 to ensure that veterans have the care facilities they need. “Montana is home to one of the highest populations of veterans per capita, and our state is in dire need of the proper facilities to provide veterans quality healthcare,” Daines said in introducing the bill the day before Veterans Day.  The bill would ensure that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) separately prioritizes grants for new state veterans’ home construction from grants for renovating and updating existing homes. The measure also

Maroon and Silver vs. Blue and Gold, that’s the name of the game this week in Montana, or should I say ‘The Brawl of the Wild’? For the last four years, Montana Attorney General Tim (I Bleed Maroon) Fox, and Montana Senator Steve (Go Cats Go) Daines have been making a bet over the cross-state Grizzly Bobcat football game, and this year is no different. For three out of the last four years, Fox has had the advantage over Daines, with victories in both Missoula and Bozeman.“I was fortunate enough to win the first three and so Senator Daines has

It’s safe to say The Montana Standard has not been in lockstep with Sen. Steve Daines on the issues. We have taken exception to his citation of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s clueless promise to “clean up the Berkeley Pit” in announcing his support for Pruitt’s confirmation. We have not seen eye to eye with him on issues of heath care in particular, and we were recently disappointed that he did not find the political will to co-sponsor a bill to ban the importation, sale and industrial use of asbestos, a lethal mineral that has killed hundreds if not thousands of

Two U.S. Senators who had endorsed Roy Moore’s candidacy withdrew their support, one day after a Washington Post report alleging that he had pursued teenagers when he was in his thirties. Montana Senator Steve Daines and Utah Senator Mike Lee both revoked their support Friday evening. “Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate,” Lee wrote on Twitter at approximately 6 p.m. E.T. Daines retweeted Lee’s tweet, and, two minutes later, followed with his own statement. “I am

Senators Mike Lee and Steve Daines, of Utah and Montana respectively, said Friday that they would pull their endorsements of Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for Alabama senator, after allegations that Moore pursued sexual encounters with teenage girls nearly 40 years ago. “Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate,” Lee wrote on Twitter Friday. Daines said on Twitter shortly after that he would also be pulling his endorsement. The Washington Post published a bombshell report Thursday in

A draft bill proposing wide changes to public forest management includes a provision by Sen. Steve Daines overturning a federal court ruling on endangered species habitat. Daines, R-Mont., discussed the Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2017 at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Wednesday. The full bill, by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., hasn’t been formally introduced yet. “We have had one of the most devastating fire seasons this year across the West and in Montana,” Daines wrote in an email. “We need forest management reform now to reduce the severity and intensity of wildfires and create

Four Republican senators unveiled draft legislation Monday aimed at preventing and mitigating wildfires by making it easier to cut down and remove trees and brush.   The legislation from Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), John Thune (S.D.) and Steve Daines (Mont.) comes amid a particularly destructive wildfire season in the West, which has prompted unprecedented federal aid and congressional attention.   The GOP bill contrasts with a bipartisan wildfire management bill that a handful of senators introduced last week.   The bill from Barrasso and his colleagues focuses primarily on trying to make it easier to remove wood