Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/tag/steve-bullock/page/6/)
We are a nation of immigrants who despise immigrants. Syrians and Middle East refugees are just the most recent of the indigestible bits in the melting pot that we are so fond of claiming as our great distinction among nations. And Hispanics, like the poor, we will always have with us and will probably disparage them for another few decades in addition to the disparagement of the past 150 years, give or take. (more…) Continue Reading →
Recently the Department of Homeland Security granted Montana an extension of time to conform to the “REAL ID” law passed by Congress in 2005. In a nutshell, the REAL ID law demanded that state driver license and identification cards conform to federal requirements concerning information and data-sharing as laid out by DHS, and that these identification documents have the approval of DHS. (more…) Continue Reading →
First the television cameramen shuffle in. Then Gov. Steve Bullock, flanked by a couple of aides at the door, steps toward the stage. We’re in a conference room at Montana State University in Bozeman, and this is a moment that many at Wednesday’s Montana Wind Energy Forum have been waiting for, especially now that it’s the only thing between them and lunch. (more…) Continue Reading →
It’s been 259 days and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services continues to drag its feet fulfilling a public records request the Montana Center for Investigative Reporting originally submitted last Oct. 29, asking for newborn screening records. Getting answers to questions about Montana’s newborn screening program and its performance has been a daunting task. Why are the DPHHS and local hospitals so reluctant to release information? (more…) Continue Reading →
Now that the 2015 Montana Legislature has adjourned, lots of regular Montanans are confused about what actually happened in Helena, which coincidentally is the condition a good many legislators found themselves in when it was finally over. The 64th session, or Legislature LXIV as fans of state government affectionately call it, featured a raft of complicated legislation, parliamentary maneuvering worthy of Machiavelli and the usual ration of ding-dong bills meant to deal with life-or-death issues like yoga pants. (more…) Continue Reading →
Eric Stern, Montana’s deputy secretary of state, has written a good piece in Salon about why the Koch brothers’ well-publicized attempt to torpedo Medicaid expansion in Montana failed so spectacularly. The piece is a few days old now (and was published one day before Gov. Steve Bullock signed into law a piece of legislation also hated by the Kochs’ minions) and it is obviously very partisan, but I think Stern is mostly right. His main point is that the anti-Medicaid campaign was so clearly run by out-of-state stooges that it offended regular Montanans. Who likes being hectored, lectured and talked down to by a bunch of punks in suits—punks who can’t even be bothered to know, within a million or two, what the population of Montana is? Stern also makes this good point:
“Tea Party threats aren’t what they used to be. Continue Reading →
Billings resident William Snell was to be honored in Helena on Friday for his decades of work to improve the health and wellbeing of Native Americans in Montana. Snell, currently the project manager for the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leadership Council, along with six other individuals and organizations, is to receive a ServeMontana Award at noon Friday in the old Supreme Court chambers of the state Capitol. (more…) Continue Reading →
Much has already been made of the news that the Montana House Education Committee will be led during the 2015 legislative session by two prominent supporters of school choice and charter schools. But since Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock is likely to veto any attempts to bring school choice to Montana, it’s the long game that is more interesting, and in that sense backers of school choice seem positioned to prevail someday soon. (more…) Continue Reading →
The Dude for U.S. Senate? Yes, if Libby Pratt has her way. Pratt, who said she lives on a ranch south of Lockwood, launched a Facebook page called Jeff Bridges for Montana U.S. Senator on Friday afternoon, and a related petition at Change.org shortly thereafter. (more…) Continue Reading →
A new display at the Western Heritage Center and a three-day “Not In Our Town National Leadership Gathering” are two ways Billings residents are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the town’s stand against prejudice and hate. (more…) Continue Reading →
