In The News

Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler were in Kalispell Friday visiting multiple brownfields sites. Brownfield land is any previously developed land that may potentially be contaminated or land that was previously used for industrial or commercial purposes with suspected pollution due to hazardous waste. The tour included Glacier Rail Park, the former CHS Country Store, the CHS Agronomy Center and finished at the SunRift Beer Company in downtown. According to a press release, The EPA’s Brownfields Program provides direct funding for brownfields assessment, cleanup, revolving loans, environmental job training, technical assistance, training and research. “What

Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines July 22 reiterated the federal government’s intention to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine within the calendar year during a roundtable with a U.S. Food and Drug Administration official and nearly a dozen hospital and public health experts across the Treasure State. Daines struck an urgent tone while discussing progress on domestic vaccine production. “Because as you know, every day matters. We’re seeing hospitalizations spike, COVID-19 positive tests. Time is of the essence,” he said. The roundtable followed Wednesday’s announcement that the Trump administration plans to buy 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by

HELENA- A bill that includes a number of important provisions that will strengthen military bases across the U.S. passed the Senate Thursday, July 23. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will expand services for servicemembers, veterans and military families and includes investments into Malmstrom Air Force Base and the Montana Air National Guard. The 2021 NDAA sets funding levels and policies for the Department of Defense, and in addition to providing a 3.1 present pay raise to service members, the bill will also provide hazard pay and 180 days of medical care for National Guard and Reserve Servicemembers deployed to

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) on Tuesday unveiled legislation to promote workforce recovery through the provision of additional training services and workforce investment activities via $3.5 billion in funding for fiscal years 2020 through 2022. “As our nation continues to respond to the impacts of COVID-19, we must ensure our workers have the support they need to get back to work,” Sen. Daines said. “My bill will boost our economic recovery by connecting unemployed Montanans with local career training programs that can help them find a new job.” Sen. Daines sponsored the Workforce Recovery and Training Services Act of 2020,

Congress has finally approved a permanent source of money for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) after years of struggle. The US House gave approval on Wednesday to the Great American Outdoors Act, which provides a permanent allocation to cover a variety of recreation projects, from building fishing access sites to paying for trails and campground improvements. The vote comes a month after the US Senate gave it’s approval to the Act, which saw Montana Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester help to build bi-partisan support for the sweeping legislation. Both have called the Act a measure steps forward

The U.S. House made a significant investment in public lands on Wednesday by passing the Great American Outdoors Act. The bill is now headed to President Donald Trump who has said he will sign it into law. Trump tweeted his support for the act on Wednesday and thanked Montana Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican up for reelection, for his work on the bill. The Great American Outdoors Act provides $9.5 billion for the maintenance backlog on public lands and sets aside $900 million annually for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Rep. Greg Gianforte, a Republican running for governor, voted

U.S. Sen Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Montana health professionals Wednesday he’s optimistic a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready for distribution by year’s end, in part because the government will pay for manufacturing of promising drugs ahead of final approval. The senator was joined on the Zoom conference Wednesday by Dr. Anand Shah, the Food and Drug Administration’s deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs. “I’ve always felt, and still firmly believe, the only way our country is going to get back to a sense of normal, and fully get back to work and restore confidence in our economy is to

Montana health care leaders asked questions Wednesday about how a COVID-19 vaccine is being developed, how it’ll be distributed and what’s being done to ramp up testing as positive case numbers continue to surge. Over Zoom, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and Anand Shah, deputy commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, fielded those questions and gave an update on efforts to provide immunity to and treatment for the virus. Daines said that the federal government has made significant investments in vaccine and drug development. He cited his support to help secure $10 billion in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and

From his office in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Montana Senator Steve Daines conducted a ZOOM call with FDA Deputy Commissioner Anand Shah for an update on development of treatments for COVID 19. Daines called his plan ‘Operation Warp Speed’ meaning federal authorities are pulling out all the stops in an effort to find an effective treatment for the worldwide pandemic. “Nationally, my effort will be called ‘Operation Warp Speed’, and that is what the White House is calling this overall project,” said Daines. “The beginnings of that were when I secured $10 billion, in which I worked with Senate leadership