Steve Bullock

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Budget takes center stage in Legislature’s first week

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Sesso

HELENA — Montana’s 2017 Legislature has begun to tackle a wide swath of issues, from public safety to infrastructure, from education to agriculture. But as the first of many bills were read in committee rooms around the Capitol last week, it became clear that everything this time around would focus on the budget. During a Republican caucus Tuesday, House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, told fellow party members that the challenges the entire Legislature faces in the coming months would be daunting. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Austin Knudsen, John Sesso, Montana Legislature, Ron Ehli, Steve Bullock

Montana government’s mythical spending spree

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Two prominent Republican legislators published an op-ed in Wednesday’s Billings Gazette calling for an end to “irresponsible spending” in Helena. House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, and House Majority Leader Ron Ehli, R-Hamilton, say they want to be “a check on the governor’s spending and expanding government.” They also say that Montana faces a tight budget this year because of falling prices for oil and agricultural commodities and a “non-existent timber industry.”

Because of “poor management and excessive regulations,” they say, revenues are too low to meet basic costs. They don’t explain how poor management and regulations made oil and food cheaper, and they don’t explain how a nonexistent timber industry managed to bring in $296 million in labor income in Montana as recently as 2013. They do say that state government has added “well over 1,000 new state employees” in the last 12 years. Why 12 years? Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Austin Knudsen, Brian Schweitzer, Ron Ehli, Steve Bullock

Only thing worse than Obamacare is … what?

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DC

The most important issue before Montana legislators this session isn’t really even on the agenda. And it’s not their fault.

The fate of health insurance for millions of Americans, and for tens of thousands of Montanans, rests in the hands of a Congress dominated by Republicans, who have vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as one of their first items of business when Donald Trump takes over as president. The GOP also has vowed to replace Obamacare, but that could take years. In the meantime, uncertainty could damage or even destroy insurance companies, and millions of people could lose insurance. This has left Montana lawmakers in a quandary. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Opinion, Affordable Care Act, Austin Knudsen, Obamacare, Scott Sales, Steve Bullock

Prairie Lights: Glimmers of good sense in election results

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Fliers

Three weeks ago in this space, I urged readers of Last Best News to vote for Gov. Steve Bullock and Montana Supreme Court candidate Dirk Sandefur, and in favor of Initiative 182, loosening restrictions on medical marijuana. I won’t claim one iota of credit, but I will admit that on an otherwise dismal Election Day, I was buoyed by the victories of Bullock, Sandefur and the proponents of I-182. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Prairie Lights, Dirk Sandefur, Greg Gianforte, Judy Martz, Kristen Juras, Mark O'Keefe, Montana Supreme Court, Steve Bullock

Taking potshots at 2016 election

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DC

An old newspaper joke says that the job of editorial writers is to go onto the field after the battle is over and shoot the survivors. The election is over; let the shooting begin. ♦ Cheapest shot: Democrats ran ad after ad pointing out that Greg Gianforte comes from New Jersey, as if failure to be born in Montana disqualifies candidates for public office. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Opinion, Denise Juneau, Donald Trump, Greg Gianforte, Jesse Laslovich, Matt Rosendale, Ryan Zinke, Steve Bullock

Prairie Lights: Forget Trump, here are 2 key state races

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EK

If I thought it would make the slightest difference, I would urge readers of Last Best News to vote for Hillary Clinton, given the mountain of evidence that Donald Trump is completely unfit to be president. But it appears that Montana voters are going to favor Trump in any case. Fortunately, it appears just as likely that the country as a whole will reject him by a large margin. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Prairie Lights, Dirk Sandefur, Greg Gianforte, I-182, Kristen Juras, Montana Supreme Court, Steve Bullock

Opinion: Economics, not politics, changing coal industry

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Plant

A recent spate of political ads on TV show the Montana Republican party blaming potential job losses at Colstrip and a downturn in coal production in Montana on Gov. Steve Bullock and the Democratic Party in general. Since we have spent an inordinate amount of time looking at coal issues over the past decade and more, we feel some responsibility to try to respond to this issue so that others will not be misled by blatant coal industry propaganda. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Colstrip, NorthWestern Energy, Puget Sound Energy, Republican Party, Steve Bullock, Talen Energy

Governor’s debate rouses two cheers for politics

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DC

I was just about ready to start this column this way: If you are not sufficiently depressed yet about the 2016 election, then I have a reading assignment for you. But suddenly I feel better. I admit that I’ve become unhealthily obsessed with this year’s presidential race. It’s the first time since the Kennedy-Nixon election of 1960 that I have genuinely worried about what will become of the country if the wrong candidate wins. I was only 9 years old then. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Opinion, Greg Gianforte, Steve Bullock

Gianforte, Bullock offer different views of state

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Greg Gianforte and Steve Bullock painted very different pictures of Montana in a debate at Montana State University Billings Monday night. Gov. Bullock, the incumbent Democrat, described a Montana that is fiscally prudent and a magnet for entrepreneurs. He said the state is growing rapidly in terms of median income and gross domestic product. Gianforte, the Republican challenger, characterized Montana as poorly managed, with declining reserve funds and low wages that drive young people out of the state. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Greg Gianforte, Steve Bullock

Democrats turn out for Labor Day picnic

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The Greater Yellowstone Central Labor Council Labor Day Picnic follows an unvarying agenda: fried chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch; a range of free domestic beers ranging from Budweiser to Bud Light; bluegrass music by Jim Southworth and Southbound; inflatables for the kids; and speeches by Democrats. The only difference this year was that an early drizzle and cool temperatures appeared to hold down the size of the crowd. Lunch lines, which sometimes take a half hour or longer to get through, were so short that one line closed altogether at an early hour. But the light rain had stopped and the sun was shining by the time political candidates were given a few minutes each to make their case to union members. As usual, all of the speakers were Democrats, except for Dirk Sandefur, who is running a nonpartisan race for the Montana Supreme Court. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Greater Yellowstone Central Labor Council, Greg Gianforte, Jesse Laslovich, Melissa Romano, Monica Lindeen, Steve Bullock