In The News

HELENA, Mont. – Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) reintroduced a bill that looks to clarify the current tax code to ensure first responders do not have to pay taxes on injury-related compensation when hurt in the line of duty. According to a release, the “Putting First Responders First Act,” was inspired by the story of Ladd Paulson, a Billings police officer who is now retired. “In 2002, Mr. Paulson was hit by an impaired driver while he was conducting a routine traffic stop on his motorcycle,” the release says. “He survived the near-death experience, but was left

Yesterday, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) wrote to President Joseph Biden to share his concerns regarding the Biden Administration’s support for waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines and urge the President to reconsider his position on the proposed waiver.  In his letter, Sen. Daines (at right) asserted that “[s]uspending World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations to protect IP on COVID-19 vaccines would not only fail to significantly speed up vaccine distribution to the rest of the world, but it would set a dangerous precedent on IP protection at the international level and undermine American innovation.”  Sen. Daines also argued that the

U.S. SENATE – Senator Steve Daines led a hearing Wednesday on improving mental health and addiction services in our communities, where he highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Montana. May is Mental Health Awareness Month – an issue at the top of my mind and many others following a year of isolation for Montanans and Americans across the country,” Sen. Daines said. “Since the pandemic, lockdowns, economic hardships and social isolation have only helped intensify what we already know – we need mental health services in our communities, and we need to make it a priority. You can

Daines cosponsored the “Back to Work Bonus Act,” which would give currently unemployed workers who return to work a one-time payment similar to a hiring bonus, and he introduced the “Get Americans Back to Work Act,” which would end the federal unemployment pandemic enhancement payments.

GOP opposition is building to the Biden administration’s move to support waiving World Trade Organization patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines. Ahead of a Wednesday Senate Finance Committee hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) sent a letter to Tai and President Biden, urging the administration to withdraw its support. “Waiving IP protections under this proposal runs counter to long standing American values and will not enable faster vaccination globally,” the senator wrote. He also expressed concern that countries like China and Russia would take the protected data and undermine the market for U.S. vaccine manufacturing. “Moreover,

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Noting the rising vaccination rates in Montana, Senator Steve Daines wants the Biden Administration to be more aggressive about reaching an agreement to re-open the Canadian border to regular traffic. There’s still no sign of a breakthrough in efforts to resume anything but commercial, “essential” travel through Montana’s ports of entry with Canada. And as we’ve shown you before, it’s keeping cross-border families separated by the COVID restrictions. “Well, this is going to take leadership from the top and the hypocrisy that we’re seeing at the moment from the Biden Administration is frustrating many Montanans,” says Daines.

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester’s resolution marking May 5th, 2021, as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls passed the U.S. Senate. “It’s important to keep the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis at the forefront of the national conversation. On May 5 we remember Hanna Harris, who would be celebrating her 29th birthday, and the countless other lives that have been lost due to this crisis. Shedding a light on this tragic issue is a way to effectively address and protect our native communities,” Daines said. “I will

Senator Steve Daines spent a few hours in Columbus last Friday to tour Montana Silversmiths. Before the low-key tour got underway, Daines spoke to a handful of workers, telling them that he was excited to get to see the business up-close for the first time. Daines, who grew up in Gallatin County and spent a lot of time in Stillwater County hiking and recreating, said that decades ago, in a church nursery in Bozeman, he met a man by the name of Kent Williams. Williams, of course, would go on to found Montana Silversmiths and grow it into the tremendously

U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines are teaming up to release a Public Service Announcement (PSA) encouraging Montanans to make an appointment to receive their COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.