In The News

A bill Montana’s senators have both at one time or another promoted is now on the President’s desk for signing. The measure prohibits taxing the Internet, even in states that already had it. The Senate recently approved the bill, whose overall purpose was revamping trade law, 75 to 20, sending it on its way. Montana is among states that would have imposed an automatic 3.75 percent tax on Internet access if the moratorium had ever been lifted and nearby North Dakota and South Dakota were among seven states that already imposed such a tax. Montana Senators Steven Daines and Jon

Montana U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Bozeman, spoke on the Senate floor in Washington, D.C., this week, advocating legislation that would split the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals because its size has led to a case backlog. Daines said it is a matter of equal access to justice. There are 14,000 cases pending in the Ninth Circuit, three times more than the next largest, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has 4,700 cases pending, he said. “The Ninth Circuit is unable to provide Americans in the West with the service they deserve,” he said. Daines has partnered with Republican Alaska

Lawmakers in both parties say breaches reported this week at the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service are the latest indication of the government’s weak defenses against cyber criminals. While the administration has sought to downplay both incidents, some lawmakers are hitting the White House, arguing the intrusions offer further evidence that the government can’t be trusted to protect its highly sensitive networks. “[President Obama] has neglected to take tangible steps to address these persistent cyberinfrastructure challenges,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said in a Wednesday statement that accused the administration of trying to sweep the IRS breach “under

Senator Steve Daines finalized a ban on state and local governments from taxing Internet access on Thursday. A press release from Daines’s office says the Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act would “permanently extend the current moratorium on taxing Internet access. Montana is one of a few states that would automatically impose a 3.75 percent tax on Internet access if the moratorium is lifted.” “The Internet is a critical avenue for Montana businesses to compete in the global marketplace and serves as a gateway for economic opportunity,” Daines said. “This permanent ban on taxing the Internet protects small businesses and hardworking families from senseless

Montana Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester asked questions during a Senate hearing Wednesday on the Air Force’ proposed budget and how it relates to Montana’s military missions. Daines, R-Mont., asked Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh about the status of replacing the Vietnam-era UH-1N Huey helicopters that are used by the Air Force’s three missile wings, including Malmstrom Air Force Base. “We are working on that in a rather urgent way,” James said. The proposed Air Force budget includes $18.3 million for the replacement program, and James said

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) is slamming President Obama for not alerting Congress to a recent breach of the Internal Revenue Service. “The President has a duty to inform Congress of cyber attacks on federal infrastructure, yet once again has tried to sweep this under the rug,” Daines said in a statement. The IRS announced Tuesday that identity thieves had used an automated bot in an attempt to generate phony login information, using almost half a million stolen Social Security numbers to create 101,000 successful PINs. The breach occurred in December. According to a Tuesday statement revealing the incident, the attack has been

Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) is joining forces on the Senate floor with Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in efforts to improve the federal circuit court system as a whole and expedite the justice process for the people within the overburdened Ninth Circuit. An excerpt of Daines’ remarks from the presentation are below: “At 64.4 million people served, the current Ninth Circuit is the largest circuit by population, as well as the largest land area. It includes Montana and Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, California, and Hawaii – not to mention several U.S. territories (Guam and Northern Mariana Islands). That amounts to

Congressional Republicans are completely blowing off President Barack Obama’s 2017 budget proposal, refusing to hold hearings on it because they say it would be a waste of time. Now Democrats are calling that snub “disrespectful to all of the hard work that went into producing this expansive document.” “President Obama’s budget is full of the same failed policies that has led our country down a path of reckless bloated spending, burdensome regulations and higher taxes,” Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines said in a statement. “This is President Obama’s eighth consecutive unbalanced budget that only serves to bolster his liberal agenda

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to halt enforcement of President Barack Obama’s sweeping plan to address climate change until after legal challenges are resolved. The surprising move is a blow to the administration and a victory for the coalition of 27 states, including Montana, and industry opponents that call the regulations “an unprecedented power grab.” By temporarily freezing the rule the high court’s order signals that opponents have made a strong argument against the plan. A federal appeals court last month refused to put it on hold. The court’s four liberal justices said they would have