Category: News Article

By Wednesday, Montana banks had made about $500 million in loans to about 5,300 small businesses as part of a new federal program that began April 3. The federal government no longer releases state-level data on the initiative — called the paycheck protection program — which provides loans to businesses to help them remain open and avoid layoffs as they grapple with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. “We have been asked not to provide local data yet,” said Brent Donnelly, deputy director for the Montana office of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the federal agency overseeing the paycheck protection program.

U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester have announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be providing $111,503,248 million for Montana hospitals and providers during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, a portion of this funding will go towards covering costs of uninsured patients for coronavirus related care. “This is about ensuring we have the critical resources needed to provide our hospitals and healthcare professionals on the front lines the tools they need to combat the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic,” Daines said. “It is one of my top priorities to protect public health and I will continue working

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said during a telephone town hall Thursday that he’s heard concerns from small business owners that the Payroll Protection Program will run out of money. He said the program still has money for now, but he shares this concern given that the program has given out 5,300 loans to Montana businesses since Tuesday. “We need to get ahead of that… this is really critical to our small businesses,” he said. Daines touted the accomplishments of Montana’s smaller financial institutions and their handling of new loan programs. “Many of these community banks and credit unions rose

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.

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

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 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

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

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

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”