Author: Reilly Lowery

A New Jersey biopharmaceutical company, Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp., has purchased 44 acres on the northeast edge of Hamilton and plans to build a vaccine development and commercial manufacturing facility. According to a news release on its website, the company will use the Montana plant and a new facility in Massachusetts to help develop and produce vaccines. The Tonix statement said their vaccine candidates are “led by modified horsepox vaccines, TNX-1800, a potential COVID-19 vaccine and TNX-801, a potential smallpox and monkeypox vaccine.” The City Of Hamilton and the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority also worked with Tonix. Hamilton has

Both houses of Congress have voted to repeal an anti-trust exemption in the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 which protects payers from federal competition laws. The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2020 amended the McCarran-Ferguson Act to include the following statement: “Nothing contained in this Act shall modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with respect to the business of health insurance (including the business of dental insurance and limited-scope dental benefits).” The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2020 received bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, with sponsorship from Representatives Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Peter

A bipartisan bill offered by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) that permanently settles a century-long tribal water dispute in his home state recently became law as part of the roughly $1.4 trillion omnibus appropriations package signed by the president. “I’m very glad I could play a direct role in getting this done, and I thank President Trump for signing our bill into law,” said Sen. Daines on Dec. 27. The Montana Water Rights Protection Act, S. 3019, which Sen. Daines sponsored in December 2019 with cosponsor U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), authorizes, ratifies and confirms a specified water rights settlement

PABLO — Time crawls by until it’s passed — then it has flown by. Such is the case of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Federal Reserved Water Rights Compact (FRWRC), officially known as the Montana Water Rights Protection Act (MWRPA). After decades of discussions and official negotiations with the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission (MRWRCC), the CSKT’s FRWRC was signed into law by the president of the United States Monday. All that was needed to ratify the MWRPA was the signature of the leaders of the Flathead Nation, and on Tuesday, that happened. The Montana Water Rights Protection

The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act was just signed into law, providing permanent tax relief and supporting jobs across Montana to small, locally-owned breweries and distilleries. The bill was created by Montana Sen. Steve Daines. “In Montana, we’re home to some of the best craft breweries in the country,” Daines said in a press release. “Now, with my bipartisan bill being signed into law, these small businesses will have permanent tax relief which will create jobs across Montana and support our Montana barley growers.”

During the 2020 election, U.S. Senator Daines was hammered by detractors as beholden to insurance companies. Nothing could be further from the truth, as evidenced by a landmark insurance reform bill that passed last week, with Senator Daines as its foremost champion. While all eyes were watching the pandemic stimulus bill vote in the U.S. Senate on Monday, there was another significant bill that passed with little fanfare. The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (CHIRA) will remove antitrust exemptions from medical and dental insurance companies, and that change is expected to have a dramatic effect on insurance premiums in the