In The News
Steve Daines: Montanans Sick of ‘Anti-American,’ ‘Radical’ Democrats Trashing America
President Donald Trump taunted the "squad" of far-left first term progressive Democrats on Sunday, telling them to go back and fix the places they came from before telling the rest of the country what to do. Trump's tweets Sunday appeared to reference Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). Trump's tweet pushed Democrats such as Reps. Omar and Ocasio-Cortez to quickly attack the president, claiming that he was "stoking white … Continue Reading
07.16.19
Daines sponsors bicameral, bipartisan bill to change federal funding formula for counties
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) on July 11 introduced a bicameral, bipartisan bill to ensure counties around the nation receive their fair share of federal payment in lieu of taxes compensation. Sen. Daines sponsored the Small County Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Parity Act, S. 2108, with cosponsors including U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) to provide for additional population tiers that would better balance how the federal government pays PILT funds to a county government to offset the loss of p… Continue Reading
07.15.19
Daines throws support behind Trump in controversy over tweets aimed at freshmen Democratic congresswomen
BILLINGS- U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana threw his support behind President Donald Trump over his tweets aimed at four Democratic congresswomen. In a tweet Monday, Daines wrote: "Montanans are sick and tired of listening to anti-American, anti-Semite, radical Democrats trash our country and our ideals. This is America. We're the greatest country in the world. I stand with @realdonaldtrump." Daines' tweet, which had more than 19,000 likes and 18,000 replies Monday evening, was in apparent r… Continue Reading
07.15.19
Republicans Take an Important Step Back into the Environmental Debate
Conservation and conservatism: The two are rightfully inseparable. Yet it is fair to say that the Republican brand has for many years been divorced from environmental causes in the public imagination. Widely associated with climate-change skepticism, unquestioning support of the fossil-fuel industry, and the blind harvesting of resources, the GOP's record on conservation is a bit rocky. But as voters become increasingly worried about the environment, Republicans on the Hill have finally realized… Continue Reading
07.13.19
Trump, Daines press for improved forest management to prevent wildfires
President Donald Trump is pushing better forest management as a big part of his plan to stop the number of large wildfires that have caused devastation in the western United States in recent years. In a speech at the White House this past week, the president touted an executive order signed last December promoting more active forest management. "You can't have dirty floors. You can't have fallen trees. After the first 17 months, they say a tree is like a piece of tinder," said Trump, a Republi… Continue Reading
07.12.19
Glacier Park International Airport Receives $5.7 Million for Terminal Expansion
Glacier Park International Airport has received $5.7 million in federal funds to help pay for its ongoing terminal expansion and the purchase of new firefighting equipment. The money was awarded through the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program and comes on the heels of two other major FAA grants GPIA has received in recent years: a $7.5 million grant in 2017 and a $2 million grant in 2018. GPIA is currently in the midst of a three-year expansion project that will add a… Continue Reading
07.09.19
Billings Logan International Airport to receive $1 million grant
BILLINGS - The Billings Logan International Airport will receive about $1 million of federal grant money to buy new aircraft rescue and fire equipment, as well as partially fund the upcoming terminal expansion project in 2019. "This grant will help us secure new equipment that will be good for the next decade or so," said Billings Airport Director of Aviation and Transit Kevin Ploehn. This money will allow the Billings airport to purchase about $200,000 worth aircraft rescue and firefighting e… Continue Reading
07.03.19
HHS responds to Daines’ push to revoke pension of convicted pedophile doctor
Efforts by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) to revoke the government pension of a retired federal medical doctor convicted of sexually assaulting minors gained ground last week. The head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps assured Sen. Daines that his call for action against convicted pedophile Stanley Patrick Weber, a retired doctor with the U.S. Indian Health Service, was under consideration. "I'm glad to see HHS respond to my… Continue Reading
07.03.19
2 Montana airports to share $9.7M in federal funds
Two Montana airports will share $9.7 million in federal funds, to help with airport expansion, terminal reconstruction, safety and aircraft parking. Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell will receive $3.5 million in federal funds to help it buy an airport rescue and firefighting vehicle, expand the commercial terminal apron for more airplane parking and help with design work for upcoming terminal expansion, an airport official said Wednesday. And $6,283,353 will be distributed to M… Continue Reading
07.03.19
Daines visits Anaconda Job Corps open house
ANACONDA - According to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, this year's open house at the Anaconda Job Corps Center was anything but routine. While the Anaconda Job Corps' open house is an annual event, Tuesday's had a special feel to it. Last May, the career-training program was set to be closed, and some Job Corps participants heard the news before going off on training. "We wound up hearing about how the center was closing before we left," said Job Corps participant Dylan Kurz. An outcry from the com… Continue Reading
07.02.19
Organizers break ground on new veterans home in Butte
BUTTE, Mont. - Organizers broke ground on the new Southwest Montana Veterans Home in Butte on Tuesday. The $20 million home will house 60 veterans in five cottage-style units. United Veterans Council commander Mike Lawson says there will also be a community center. "It will be a veterans home-like experience for those that are sent there. That's what we proposed to begin with," Lawson said. He tells NBC Montana the proposal has been in the works for 26 years. "There was a lot of anticipati… Continue Reading
07.01.19
Helena airport receives $3M in federal funding
The Helena Regional Airport recently received more than $3 million in federal funds, which local officials plan to put toward some needed maintenance projects. Helena was one of 13 Montana airports to receive more than $8 million total in funding from the Airport Improvement Program under the Department of Transportation. U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester announced the funding last week. About $1.3 million of Helena's allocation was an expected entitlement, but the additional $1.… Continue Reading
06.28.19
Daines asks about HUD-backed deficient nursing homes
Sen. Steve Daines sent a letter Friday to the federal agency that oversees nursing homes, asking about issues raised in a recent New York Times story on some poor-performing homes being backed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The June 24 Times story by Matthew Goldstein and Robert Gebelhoff noted 74 nursing homes listed among 478 identified in a recent report of having "serious deficiencies" have HUD-guaranteed mortgages. ] Daines asked Centers for Medicare and Medicaid… Continue Reading
06.28.19
Pediatrician who sexually abused Blackfeet children could lose retirement benefits
An Indian Health Service pediatrician convicted of molesting children on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation could lose retirement benefits as federal officials weigh revoking the doctor's honorable discharge. The U.S. Public Health Commission Corps disclosed on Wednesday that it is launching a board inquiry into Stanley Patrick Weber. In January, Weber was convicted by a U.S. District Court in Great Falls of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and two counts of attempted aggravated sexual… Continue Reading
06.28.19
Montana's Little Shell closer than ever to federal recognition
Montana's Little Shell Band of Chippewa Cree Indians inched closer to federal recognition Thursday, with the Senate approval. With Thursday afternoon's Senate vote, the Little Shell are closer to recognition than the tribe has ever been, said Montana's U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines. House action is still needed, but representatives have twice in less than a year supported recognizing the Little Shell. Montana's delegation assumes the House's past support means it will do so again n… Continue Reading
06.27.19
Dedicated breastfeeding rooms hard to come by in Montana
BOZEMAN - It's not uncommon for new moms to find themselves in a race to find a private place to breastfeed their child or pump. But a new bill aims to require lactation rooms in federal spaces. The Fairness For Breastfeeding Mothers Act introduced by Sen. Steve Daines passed unanimously through the Senate on Wednesday. With bipartisan support, the bill now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump. The bill requires a dedicated lactation room in most federal buildings, and bathrooms don't … Continue Reading
06.22.19
Daines meets with Trapper Creek Job Corps employees
DARBY - Republican Sen. Steve Daines heard from Trapper Creek Job Corps employees about the president keeping the program open in Darby on Friday. "I was just a kid growing up in Montana like many of you have done and are doing," Daines said at the event. "And it was an honor for me to take your message, your results, the work you do. I'm just a conduit to present that to the president and the secretary." Earlier this week, it was reported that the Anaconda and Trapper Creek Job Corps Conserv… Continue Reading
06.21.19
'Hope and opportunity': Daines travels to Trapper Creek Job Corps to celebrate
After meeting with students and staff at Trapper Creek Job Corps on Friday, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines said that what he heard could be summed up in two words. Hope and opportunity. "These are students who are on a path now of becoming productive citizens and prepared for the 21st century workforce," Daines said. "Some had literally spent time in prison and jail and are now getting a new lease on life. That is really a tremendous return on investment." Daines was on the Darby-area campu… Continue Reading
06.19.19
U.S.-Japan trade, crucial to Montana, expected to improve
Struggling U.S. agriculture exports to Japan, which have cost Montana farmers millions in sales since the start of 2019, are a few months away from being resolved, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer testified Tuesday. Lighthizer, taking questions from Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., before the Senate Finance Committee, said his office was working with Japan to smooth out tariff troubles brought about by the United States' 2017 exit from the multinational Trans-Pacific Partnership. Nati… Continue Reading
06.19.19
Daines, Tester advance Senate bill to federally recognize Little Shell Tribe
Montana's congressional delegation made a successful bipartisan push Wednesday to advance legislation that would, for the first time, federally recognize the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. According to a press release sent to MTN News, Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester have stapled their tribal recognition bill as an amendment to must-pass defense spending legislation in the U.S. Senate. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), to which the recognition bill has been attached, mus… Continue Reading
