Sen. Daines discusses financial relief efforts for Montanans during COVID-19 pandemic
Sen. Steve Daines sat down with MTN News for a remote interview from his home office on Friday. Watch MTN’s Kaitlin Corbett and Sen. Daines talk about financial relief efforts underway to help small businesses and workers across Montana.
Feds providing Montana National Guard funding for COVID-19 response
Note: The information in this release was provided by the offices of the Montana governor and U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte Montana’s governor and its congressional delegates have announced the federal government is providing funding to the Montana National Guard to help respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. Gov. Steve Bullock announced Wednesday that the federal government will cover all approved costs incurred by the National Guard, even though the Montana National Guard Soldiers and Airmen remain under the command and direction of the governor. “I’m pleased the president recognizes that Montana is working hard to fight this virus,” Bullock, who is
Questions answered: Will you be taxed on the stimulus checks?
BOZEMAN- With over 10 million Americans unemployed and 45,000 Montanans looking for unemployment help the stimulus check that is coming could be a massive relief right now. So there are some questions surrounding what you could be receiving under the corona economic stimulus package. One of the big questions surrounding the checks, are you going to be taxed on it. “Those checks are not to be taxed,” Senator Steve Daines said, “so that $1200 check you receive as a single person, after $75,000 income… it starts to decrease up to $100,000, up to 75,000 income you get a $1200 check
Montana health centers to see $9.1 million in COVID-19 relief
Montana health centers are set to see $9.1 million in the wake of COVID-19, with $759,000 of that set aside for Community Health Partners in Gallatin and Park counties. The money, announced Monday, is one wave of funding from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Buck Taylor, a spokesperson for Community Health Partners, said the money comes on top of roughly $67,000 the center received two weeks ago. The center is still working to understand how the cash can be used at its Bozeman, Livingston and West Yellowstone sites. Taylor said it seems to include funding for
Columbia Falls woman details journey home from Peru
Head pounding and muscles aching from her 30-hour trip, Brooke Sample looked out the window of her Canadair regional jet as it approached the runway at Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell the evening of March 31. She had never been so happy to be home. For nearly two weeks, the 21-year old from Columbia Falls, a communications major at Walla Walla University in Washington, had been stuck in Pucallpa, Peru, not knowing when she would see her home and family again. Since November, Sample had been working as a student missionary/journalist at a small nonprofit medical clinic in the
Montana’s senators secure over $12 million for Montana’s health centers
U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester have announced that $12,181,409 will be directed to various health centers across Montana to help the state respond to the Coronavirus pandemic, including $616,070 to Marias Healthcare Services Inc. in Shelby, one of the hardest hit Coronavirus spots in Montana, and $536,690 to Sapphire Community Health, Inc. in Hamilton. “This is about getting our health care professionals on the front lines the resources they need to combat the Coronavirus pandemic,” Daines said. “I fought to ensure our health centers and providers received this critical funding needed to protect public health and help get Montanans
‘Smallpox 2020:’ Blackfeet Nation fears impact of COVID-19 in Montana
When the first cases of coronavirus appeared in Montana, Jolene Barrientes quit her job. A member of the Blackfeet Nation, Jolene had been working at Big Sky Foods since she moved to Cut Bank in January, but she couldn’t risk exposure to the virus. Her husband, Joseph, was shot when he was 15 years old. Now, at 37, he has one functioning lung and no spleen. Jolene said he nearly died two years ago when he contracted the flu, so she fears coronavirus could kill him. To keep Joseph safe, Jolene carries disinfectant everywhere she goes. She said she has “outside”
Feds order airlines to refund tickets for all corona-affected flights
The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued an enforcement notice to all commercial airlines, ordering them to promptly refund the complete cost of all tickets sold to passengers whose flights have either been canceled or significantly delayed due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. “The department is receiving an increasing number of complaints and inquiries from ticketed passengers, including many with non-refundable tickets, who describe having been denied refunds for flights that were canceled or significantly delayed,” states a U.S. DOT news release issued April 3. “In many of these cases, the passengers stated that the carrier informed them that they
Sen. Steve Daines Sends Letter To State Department Calling For Investigation Into China’s Role In Coronavirus Spread
Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines sent a letter Monday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for an investigation into China’s role in the coronavirus outbreak, as the deadly disease continues to spread throughout the U.S. “As you are well aware, China’s initial response to reports of an atypical pneumonia being detected by medical personnel in Hubei province in late 2019 were ham-fisted with government officials hiding cases, punishing doctors who dared to speak-up, and resulted in delays that worsened the impact of COVID-19 on public health and the economies of countries around the world,” Daines wrote in the letter. “The