Category: News Article

NORTH HILLS — Standing yards above the makeshift range where a person shooting exploding targets sparked a wildfire last month, Tri-Lakes Fire Chief Bob Drake grabbed the top of one of the 3 ½-foot tall Ponderosa pine saplings populating the area that he said presented a huge problem when trying to fight the fire. “It was a really difficult initial attack,” Drake said. “ … (Firefighters were) doing everything they can, and this is what they’re dealing with and they can’t even get through that. You can’t stop it in this. I don’t care what you’ve got.” The North Hills fire grew to

Wanting to highlight Montana’s lesser visited national parks, Sen. Steve Daines will host a National Parks Subcommittee Senate hearing live at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Grant-Kohrs National Historic Site north of Deer Lodge. The Republican senator has invited a list of officials, from Powell County Commissioner Ralph E. Mannix, Jr., to Toby O’Rourke, president and chief executive officer of Kampgrounds of America Inc., to hold a conversation about how to increase visitation at all of Montana’s national parks. Others who will be there to talk will include Palmer “Chip” Jenkins, Intermountain Region National Park Service acting regional director, and Sarah

MISSOULA — US Senator Steve Daines says new forest management reform legislation will take “concrete, meaningful steps” to improve forest health and reduce the risk of wildfires. The Republican also hopes teaming up with veteran Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California will convince Congress the issue is critical and needs to be addressed across party lines. Word came late last week that Daines and Feinstein are working on legislation that would protect public safety by expediting and expanding the removal of dead, dying and hazardous trees in national forests. The pair had jointly authored a letter in 2016, even before

With traffic rushing by on Flynn Lane, Sen. Steve Daines on Friday placed his support behind Missoula’s application for a $15 million federal grant that would set the stage for future growth through new connector roads and vital infrastructure. Joined by city and county officials, Daines described the Mullan BUILD project as key to Missoula’s future. If the grant were successful, it could guide future growth and create new housing stock, something that’s needed to combat rising housing costs. “This is going to be one of my highest priorities in Washington,” said Daines, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee,

Senators from California and Montana said Thursday that they plan to introduce a bipartisan bill that aims to protect communities from wildfires like the one that killed 85 people and destroyed much of the Northern California town of Paradise last year. Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Steve Daines of Montana told The Associated Press they will introduce the bill after the Senate’s August recess, but wanted to announce their plans now as the western U.S. states enter their peak fire season. “Unfortunately, millions of acres of forests in our states and across the West remain at high risk

Sen. Daines introduced the Budgetary Accuracy in Scoring Interest Costs (BASIC) Act Thursday, which would require both the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation to include projected interest expenses associated with legislative proposals. Daines said that including interest is necessary to accurately account for the budgetary cost of the legislation.  Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and David Perdue (R-GA), two fiscal hawks, also cosponsored Daines’ BASIC Act. Daines’ legislation arises as the Senate passed a two-year budget agreement,that would increase federal spending by $320 billion over two years. The federal government requires both the JCT and CBO to provide

Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines introduced a resolution forcefully condemning what he called the “failed experiment” of socialism on Monday, warning that the United States had “two paths to take” — with one leading to “freedom,” and the other, “complete government control, undermining our constitution and our American way of life.” The resolution comes as a new Fox News poll showed 54 percent of voters thought the U.S. moving from capitalism toward socialism would be a “bad thing” — even as 53 percent of Democratic primary voters said it would be a “good” development. The growing divide is expected to play a pivotal role

President Donald Trump signed the Fairness for Breastfeeding Mothers Act on Friday, a bipartisan piece of legislation introduced by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., which requires designated breastfeeding rooms in federal buildings. The law requires federal buildings that are open to the public and contain a public restroom provide a lactation room, other than a bathroom, that is hygienic and is available for use by federal employees or members of the public who are breastfeeding, Daines said. The lactation room must be shielded from view, be free from intrusion, and contain a chair, a working surface, and (if the building is

BILLINGS, Mont. — Senator Daines announced in a press conference this morning that the U.S. Senate Finance Committee passed a bill that could potentially lower the cost of prescription drugs. Daines says months of work with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee have turned into the passing of a major bipartisan prescription drug reform package, “What we saw today is that bipartisan compromise isn’t dead. Today was about making life easier for Montanans.  It’s about cutting out of pocket costs and lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, for hardworking moms and dads, for grandmas and grandpas, frankly for Montanans in every

Sen. Steve Daines said a prescription drug pricing bill passed Thursday by the Senate Finance Committee will save Montanans and other taxpayers in the United States more than $100 billion for their medications. The Montana Republican spoke to reporters shortly after the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 moved out of the committee, where it is now headed to the Senate floor. He was joined by Tim Summers, state director of AARP Montana. Daines, who sits on the committee, said lawmakers had just passed a major, bipartisan, prescription drug pricing package. “Today was about making life easier for Montanans,”