Category: News Article

BILLINGS- Funding for small businesses, unemployment, schools and local governments is about to run out nationwide as Congress continues to negotiate terms for a second round of COVID-19 stimulus relief funds. However, Montana Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines believes lawmakers are close to reaching an agreement if they can get past bipartisan disagreements for how money should be allocated. Daines spoke with MTN News Thursday afternoon from his Washington, D.C., office on a Zoom call. He discussed the importance of a second bill having much of the same relief as the first. Money from the CARES Act, which Congress passed

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), who worked to save Montana’s Minor League Baseball teams when Major League Baseball (MLB) announced it would cut ties with 42 minor league teams across the country, on Monday applauded an agreement by MLB and Montana’s minor league teams that retains professional baseball in the state. “Professional baseball in Montana helps bring our communities together and drive our local economies,” Sen. Daines said. “I’m very glad that after months of negotiations, MLB and Montana’s minor league teams have come to an agreement to allow Great Falls, Missoula, and Billings to continue playing professional baseball in

According to ALS News Today, about 14,000 people in the U.S. are suffering from ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, slowly crippling the patient. There is currently no known cause or cure and Social Security Disability Insurance requires a five-month waiting period for treatment. The U.S. Senate this week passed a bipartisan bill presented by Montana Sen. Steve Daines that “will allow Montanans with ALS to receive both Medicare and Social Security Disability Insurance benefits in the first month the patient is under disability,” according to a Dec. 2

HELENA – The state of Montana is getting a second round delivery of Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved COVID-19 antibody treatments. Regeneron’s antibody therapeutic, casirivimab and imdevimab, is used to treat non-hospitalized or mildly to moderately symptomatic people over the age of 12-years in danger of advancing to hospitalization or severe symptoms. According to a release from the Office of Sen. Daines, Montana is receiving 150 vials of the Regeneron casirivimab and imdevimab cocktail, one treatment per vial. In addition, Montana is also getting a fourth shipment of Eli Lilly’s antibody therapy this week, and 260 vials of bamlanivimab, one

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, as well as North Dakota Republican senators Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven have written to Senate Leadership to urge them to pass the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act before the end of the year, which would make permanent existing federal excise tax rates for beverage and alcohol producers. Montana and North Dakota both are among states that have seen a surge in the craft beer industry. It’s not only creating new jobs and businesses across the state, with the potential for becoming tourist and entertainment attractions in and of

Montana U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester are among a bipartisan group of senators calling for the permanent renewal of a federal excise tax break for craft brewers and distilleries, a growing industry in Montana. In a Tuesday letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, 57 senators urged passage of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform before it expires at the end of 2020. The measure aims to extend the tax breaks for small brewers and distillers granted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the massive tax-reform plan

MISSOULA, Mont. — Time is running out to use the $1.25 billion Montana received in CARES Act money. Now, the majority of the country’s attorneys general signed on to a letter pushing for an extension. Montana Attorney General Tim Fox signed on to the letter, along with 42 other attorneys general, urging Congress to extend the deadline to use the funds until the end of next year. “We now know that, you know, things may not be back to normal until some time next year,” Fox said. “We felt like that deadline was somewhat artificial and inappropriate and that we

BILLINGS — The Pioneer League will usher in a new era in 2021, ending months of speculation and uncertainty regarding its future in professional baseball. The league, which was founded in 1939, has officially lost its longstanding professional development licenses with Major League Baseball parent clubs and will now shift to independent status as a Partner League of MLB. Major League Baseball announced the agreement on Monday, giving clarity to the Pioneer League’s direction since news broke last year of MLB’s desire to restructure the minor league system. Teams in the Pioneer League operated under player development contracts with MLB

It’ll be peanuts and Cracker Jack in 2021 for Great Falls Voyagers fans as Major League Baseball and the Pioneer League announced in a Monday news release that the Pioneer League is safe. Starting in 2021, the Pioneer League will transition from affiliated status to an independent professional MLB Partner League that will continue to provide baseball to Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. Morgan Sword, MLB’s Executive Vice President, Baseball Economics & Operations, said, “Over the past year, we have worked closely with Pioneer League owners and elected officials to ensure the continued success of baseball in the Mountain West.

HELENA- Montana is going to receive 264 vials of Regeneron casirivimab/imdevimab cocktail and 370 vials of bamlanivimab. The first shipments of Regeneron’s antibody therapeutic, casirivimab and imdevimab are going to start to be received according to a release from Senator Steve Daines. The release says Regeneron’s antibody cocktail is authorized for the treatment of non-hospitalized mild to moderate COVID-19 cases in adults and children 12 years and older who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization.