Category: News Article

Lane Nordlund has the Montana Ag Network report for Monday, April 20, 2020. #1 Friday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program will provide $19 Billion dollars to provide relief for farmers, ranchers, and consumers. “This new $19 Billion program will take several immediate actions to assists farmers, ranchers and concerns in response to the COVID-19 national emergency,” Perdue stated during a White House COVID-19 press conference. North Dakota Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, released a detailed draft of the plan. $16 billion in direct payments for farmers and ranchers,

Sen. Steve Daines R-Mont., held a virtual town hall Friday to provide and update on the COVID-19 pandemic and what he’s been doing to combat it, as well as hear from the public. “I want to hear your opinions and get your voices on these issues that are important during this pandemic and also to help you get answers about protecting your health, your safety, your finances, not just for yourself, but for your family, your friends, your loved ones,” Daines said. Daines started with the latest death due to COVID-19 in Montana. The ninth and 10th COVID-19 deaths were

BOZEMAN – U.S. Senator Steve Daines joined Wake Up Montana Weekend live Saturday morning after being named to President Trump’s bipartisan task force on safely reopening America.  The senator tweeted out that he was honored to be selected by President Trump to serve on the historic task force to safely reopen America.   Daines expressed that Montana has met the federal requirements to beginning phase one of safely reopening the economy, and that he looks forward to bringing the voice of Montana’s small business owners, workers, and families to the President’s task force.

Montana U.S. Senator Steve Daines announced Saturday that nearly $3.5 million will be directed to the Montana Board of Crime Control. “This funding will play a critical role to ensure our law enforcement on the front lines have the resources they need to protect our communities during the coronavirus outbreak,” Daines said in press release. The Department of Justice is providing the funding to ensure law enforcement across the country is prepared for any criminal activity that may occur following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

There are Montana businesses socked by the pandemic who are waiting on help from the now-exhausted Paycheck Protection Program, but the demand is thinning after a crush of early borrowing. There’s a need for more than $100 million in loans to help Montana businesses keep workers on payroll, said Cary Hegreberg, Montana Bankers Association CEO. That estimate of remaining demand is a fraction compared to the $1.47 billion awarded to Montana businesses in the past two weeks. “These community banks, they stepped up,” Hegreberg said. “They reassigned people. The quickly retrained people, who aren’t typically commercial lenders, to process applications

BOZEMAN – U.S. Senator Steve Daines joined Wake Up Montana Weekend live Saturday morning after being named to President Trump’s bipartisan task force on safely reopening America.

Coronavirus claimed another Toole County resident on Thursday, bringing the number of deaths in Montana to eight while the number of cases across the state surpassed 415, including 35 in Missoula County. Toole County has a population of less than 5,000 people, though it accounts for half of the state’s COVID-19 deaths. Missoula County has a population of 120,000 residents and has reported one death. “As we learn of the loss of another Montanan due to COVID-19, my heart aches for the community, which has been particularly impacted by this virus, and the family members of this Montanan,” Gov. Steve

Sen. Steve Daines says it’s been “nice for a change to see government move at the speed of business”, with more than $1.4 billion flowing to Montana businesses to help with COVID-19 impacts. And he’s confident Congress can reach agreement to provide another round of assistance, now that the original pot of money has been expended. New numbers from the Small Business Administration today show more than 13,456 loans have been approved for Montana businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program. That money is used to help with payroll and operational expenses for businesses closed, or even slowed down, by the

The members of Montana’s congressional delegation have announced that most taverns have been added to businesses eligible for federal assistance in the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Montana taverns were not eligible because of the income they received from gaming machines, but the U.S. Small Business Administration has expanded eligibility for aid like the Paycheck Protection Program to include taverns that make one-third of their income from gambling will now qualify as long as the profit is less than 50 percent of their total revenue and does not exceed $1 million. Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont.,

U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced he was chosen by President Trump to join a bipartisan White House Task Force to provide counsel to President Trump to safely reopen America in the wake of COVID-19. “I am honored to be selected by President Trump to serve on this historic task force to safely reopen America,” Daines said. “We can prioritize our public health and our workers, families and small businesses. Let’s get this done for Montana and America.” One of Daines’ top priorities during the coronavirus outbreak has been to accelerate the development and manufacturing of drugs to treat and prevent