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HELENA — Montana's insurance commissioner criticized the president's move Thursday to allow insurance plans that had been slated to be canceled with the nation's health overhaul. Monica Lindeen said on a conference call that it "throws everything on its head" after three years of preparing for the new federal law. President Barack Obama reversed course Thursday and said individuals should be allowed to renew plans now ticketed for cancellation. Foes used the cancellations to pounce on campaign trail promises that Americans c...
HELENA — Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Daines said Tuesday that he is not interested in talking about continued funding for the federal government until Democrats agree to talk about spending cuts. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, in an interview, countered that Daines and other House Republicans need to pass the funding resolution that is before the chamber and stop trying to make hostages of federal programs. The partial government shutdown is in its eighth day with little or no talk of a...
HELENA — Montana Lt. Gov. John Walsh said today he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2014, giving Democrats the high-profile candidate they've been scrambling for in a bid to keep the seat they've held for decades. Walsh told supporters this morning with a video message that he will run for the office that has been the focus of a great deal of speculation since Sen. Max Baucus announced earlier this year that he will retire at the end of 2014. The announcement said the 52-year-o...
KALISPELL — U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg stuck with his central campaign theme at a Sunday debate, mentioning President Barack Obama early and often as he laid blame on U.S. Sen. Jon Tester for unpopular administration policies. Tester scoffed at Rehberg's attack that the Democrat votes with the president 95 percent of the time as "crazy." Tester joked that he doesn't even agree with his wife 95 percent of the time. Tester and Rehberg are engaged in one of the tightest Senate races in the country. The campaign has become i...
OMAHA, Neb. — A meeting of Missouri River governors Monday revealed significant disagreement between Montana and states further downstream over flood control, even as federal officials warned the group that damage from this year's high water may make their states even more vulnerable next year. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer fought against a developing notion that flood control for states further down the river should dominate how reservoirs are managed upstream. He told governors of the downstream states that such a plan w...
Montana workers' comp overhaul gets green light MATT GOURAS Associated Press Writer HELENA — A proposed workers' compensation overhaul hammered out by business and labor is going to the full Legislature, despite stiff opposition from the equally powerful trial lawyers and doctors groups. A legislative committee tasked with fixing an expensive system unanimously approved the plan Thursday, sending it to lawmakers who meet in January. Fixing a worker's comp system that has become one of the most expensive in the nation has b...