In The News

HELENA – U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said Thursday that Senate Republicans’ latest proposal to repeal and overhaul the Affordable Care Act “still smells like a pigpen” and should be scrapped. Montana’s other senator, Republican Steve Daines, said through a spokeswoman that he’s going through the latest draft and wants more information before making a judgment. He also wants to listen to what Montanans have to say about the new Republican proposal, which was unveiled Thursday morning. It’s unclear whether Republicans even have enough votes to bring the bill to the Senate floor, let alone pass it. Tester, who’s been

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll have an updated health care bill ready Thursday for the legislative body to work on. In a press call with reporters, Montana’s Democratic  Senator Jon Tester said he’s willing to work with Republicans on compromise health care legislation. “I think I can work with anybody,” Tester said. “I think there’s an opportunity to get things done here, but you need to go in with the goal of improving affordability and accessibility.” Tester says that he’s willing to cooperate, but not if it means using the health care bill the House passed in May

After meeting privately with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Tuesday, Sen. Steve Daines says he’s confident Pruitt will visit Butte this year. In an interview with The Montana Standard Wednesday, Daines said Pruitt is determined to “get results” with the Superfund program. “Some of these sites have been languishing for decades. Administrator Pruitt is focused on outcomes,” Daines said. Daines said he renewed his earlier invitation to Pruitt to visit Montana, this time specifically suggesting a trip to Butte, and got a positive response. Daines didn’t spare the business jargon as he discussed Montana and Superfund, saying that said getting Pruitt

The Indian Health Service’s top official dodged frustrated lawmakers’ questions about unsafe care at the federal agency and whether proposed budget cuts would worsen the situation during a tense Senate committee hearing Wednesday. Members of the Senate Indian Affairs and Senate Appropriations committees repeatedly cited two articles published last week in The Wall Street Journal on the agency, which provides health care to 2.2 million tribal members. The articles examined agency-run hospitals that failed to meet basic U.S. standards and employed doctors who are now accused of crimes, while the IHS’s political leaders focused on other priorities. The Journal identified 11 patients

Lincoln County recently received $644,300 of payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Federal government issues the money to local governments to help offset losses in property taxes due to non-taxable Federal lands within their boundaries. “At this time we have no specific projects in mind” for the money, Lincoln County Administrator Darren Coldwell said via email. “My hope would be to have use as a surplus and not have to include it in this fiscal budget, depending on how the budget turns out.” Coldwell wrote that the money can be used

Six GOP senators are calling for lawmakers to continue working through their August recess unless progress has been made in key areas. The Republican senators — David Perdue (Ga.), Steve Daines (Mont.), John Kennedy (La.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mike Rounds (S.D.) and Luther Strange (Ala.) — said meaningful progress must be made on healthcare, passing a budget, funding the government, dealing with the debt ceiling and tax reform. The six senators will hold a press conference to air their concerns. The high-profile move comes after 10 Republican senators last month sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urging party leadership to nix the August recess. The letter warned the

ZORTMAN, MT – The July Fire began July 3, and quickly grew in size and complexity, threatening the towns of Zortman and Landusky, Mont. The Northern Rockies Western Montana Incident Management Team (Connell) was mobilized to the fire to assist local resources with fire suppression efforts.  The cause of the fire is currently being investigated. Currently, the fire has reached 10,622 acres and is 50% contained.  There are 438 personnel working to suppress this fire.  Twelve aircraft are assigned to the fire, including five helicopters.  At press time, no serious injuries were reported. The community and structure protection efforts of the

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX, Dallas) are spearheading an effort to gain greater control of our federally managed public lands by cutting off access. First, Daines took letters from certain Crazy Mountain landowners who outfit the area and are also ranking members of organizations, such as the Montana Outfitters & Guides Association, Montana Farm Bureau Federation and the Stockgrowers Association. Those letters, along with Daines own, were sent to the newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Purdue, who just happened to be in Montana for an Ag Summit in May, where District Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz was

Montana has two of the 100 votes in the U.S. Senate, and of those two, only one of the state’s senators has made up his mind on the controversial GOP overhaul of the health care system. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, was originally pushing for a vote on the bill, also known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act, before the Fourth of July recess. McConnell postponed the vote on the reform because it lacked the support from 10 members of the Republican Party. Daines’ office released a statement to the Chronicle on Friday, saying the senator was looking