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Editor’s note: This version adds comments from the office of Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. Members of the St. Mary Rehabilitation Working Group met Wednesday to discuss possible funding sources for improvements and repairs to the structure that provides water resources to northern Montana. The St. Mary Diversion and Conveyance Works, part of the irrigation Milk River Project and one of the first projects Bureau of Reclamation was authorized to build when it was created at the start of the last century, diverts water into the Nor...
After weeks of negotiations, the Senate Wednesday advanced a bill to increase investment in U.S. infrastructure on a 67-32 vote with one senator not voting. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., voted for advancing the bill to the floor along with all other Senate Democrats, two independents and 17 Republicans, while Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., was one of the 32 Republicans voting against it. A fact sheet released by the White House says the deal includes $550 billion in new spending on infrastructure. The fact sheet says the bill...
Following an announcement by the Canadian government an ease in border restrictions would allow fully vaccinated American citizens and permanent residents to enter the country for nonessential travel, Montana's senators are urging President Joe Biden to allow Canadians into the U.S. Canada's ease in border restrictions goes into effect Aug. 9 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time. Sources report that U.S. Department of Homeland Security was publishing a notice today that U.S....
President Joe Biden signed 72 directives in a series of executive orders to try to rein in corporate abuse and to create a more competitive marketplace. These directives are instructing agencies to investigate anticompetitive practices and to create a more level playing field. One of the directives instructs the Federal Trade Commission to force equipment manufacturers to allow us the right to repair our own equipment. Another directive instructs the USDA to stop corporate monopolies from labeling imported meat with a...
Sen. Jon. Tester, If you vote yes for the confirmation of David Chipman, that’s a no vote for you, in your up coming election. Responsible gun owners will not forget to vote no for you. Roy Johnson Heron...
Montana’s U.S. senators announced today that funding to rehabilitate the source of most of the water in the Milk River passed out of committee. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said in a release that up to $100 million in dedicated funding to rehabilitate the Milk River Project is part of a bipartisan infrastructure framework he recently negotiated with the White House and nine of his Republican and Democratic colleagues. The water infrastructure portion of the framework was voted out of committee today with a bipartisan m...
Staff and wire report More direct and indirect action is happening in Washington, D.C., on issues related to agricultural production. President Joe Biden has issued an executive order that includes directing government agencies to increase competition in the markets for agricultural products, and, almost the same time the order was issued, U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it was investing $600 million in meat processing facilities. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said in a release Friday he was celebrating the USDA inv...
Editor, In 2017, Montana’s outdoor recreation economy generated $7.1 billion. Two years later, Montana Sen. Jon Tester introduced the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act — BCSA — a piece of federal legislation to bolster Montana’s economy by protecting 80,000 acres of land for conservation, recreation, and restoration. Ninety-eight percent of Montanans believe that outdoor recreation is important to Montana’s economic future. With thousands of acres dedicated to snowmobiling, mountain biking, hiking and fishing, the BCSA...
NOTE: This information was provided by the office of Sen. Jon Tester U.S. Sen Jon Tester, D-Mont., announced Friday that he secured $55.2 million in competitive grant funding that will provide critical resources for currently operating processing facilities that are working toward federal inspection. Tester said securing the funding is part of his push to increase local meat processing capacity in Montana and reduce consolidation in the meatpacking industry. “In order to break the stranglehold that large packers have on t...
In a monthly press call Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., provided details regarding a recently agreed-upon framework for a massive $579 billion increase in infrastructure spending that could, if passed, invest a significant amount of money into the nation's roads, bridges, airports, water and broadband infrastructure without the need for new taxes. "For a country that has been living for years off our parents' and grandparents' infrastructure, this is a big deal," Tester said. He...
Montana political leaders are again joining others around the country asking the U.S. Department of Justice to take action on allegations that the “stranglehold” large meatpackers have over the beef processing market violate U.S. antritrust laws, although some say that is not enough. Montana’s Sens. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Steve Daines, a Republican, and Montana’s Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale are signing off on a bipartisan letter members of Congress sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for an...
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. held a rural press call Thursday where he talked about the return of full Amtrak Service to the Hi-Line, a bill to provide benefits to veterans suffering from exposure to toxic substances, and a bill providing more resources to law enforcement for combatting drug trafficking. Tester said he's happy to see full Amtrak service return to the Hi-Line after long-distance service was cut last summer by Amtrak, which cited reduced ridership due to the...
This past week brought some much-needed good news for the folks who live and work in Havre and across the Hi-Line. On May 24th, full, daily Amtrak service returned to the Northern tier of our state after painful, short-sighted cuts imposed last year furloughed employees and reduced service to just three days a week. The cuts to Amtrak were a punch in the gut, and an attack on Montana’s frontier communities. Folks from Wolf Point to Libby and everywhere in between depend on reliable, frequent Amtrak service—and the Empire Bui...
In the wake of announcements about the dispersal of over $28 million in American Rescue Plan funds to counties and cities across north-central Montana little guidance has been issued by the federal government about how these funds can be used. While some county- and city-level officials in the area have general ideas about where this money will be spent, few concrete plans are being made because so little is known about how the money can legally be spent. “We know we need to be accountable for how it’s spent and we have not...
After seven months of running only three days a week, the Hi-Line is again seeing the Empire Builder run twice a day across the railroad tracks. Amtrak — which had its 50th anniversary this month — had cut long-distance service last summer, including the Empire Builder that crosses the Hi-Line as it runs from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, citing reduced numbers of passengers due to the pandemic. The members of Montana’s congressional delegation had been working to restore the service almost as soon as it was annou...
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., held a press call Thursday to discuss the introduction of his bipartisan Assisting Narcotics and Trafficking Officers in Interdicting - ANTI - Drugs Act. The act is intended to "boost funding for critical law enforcement programs that make a tangible difference in Montana communities including border security program Operation Stonegarden, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area - HIDTA - and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants," a press r...
Montana Farmers Union will be hosting a free event in Havre May 18, “Rebuilding Food Resiliency,” as part of the union’s spring workshop series. “The American Rescue Plan, when you read about it, one of the goals is to rebuild food resiliency. That means investment in infrastructure to get local regionalized processing going again, it means increasing the ability to store food products, and the programs that will be available for communities to to invest in their own communi...
Staff and wire report Havre-based Bear Paw Development Corp. is getting some help from the federal government to help businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Thursday its Economic Development Administration awarded a $1.7 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security — CARES — Act Recovery Assistance grant to Bear Paw to capitalize and administer a revolving loan fund to provide gap financing to coronavirus-impacted small businesses in Bear Paw Development’s econo...
Note: This was provided by the office of Sen. Jon Teter WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester released the following statement after the United States Department of Agriculture announced that billions of dollars in coronavirus relief funding will be opened up to bring critical financial assistance to agricultural producers impacted by COVID-19 market disruptions: “This announcement is welcome news to Montana farmers and ranchers who have been impacted by the coronavirus crisis. I’m happy to see that this money will be put to go...
Press release WASHINGTON — Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Jon Tester, D-Mont., along with their colleagues Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, John Hoeven, R-N.D., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., have introduced legislation to foster efficient markets while increasing competition and transparency among meat packers who purchase livestock directly from independent producers. This bipartisan bill will require that a minimum of 50 percent of a meat p...
Note: This was provided by the office of Sen. Jon Tester U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is fighting to ensure Montana ag and livestock haulers have the flexibility they need to safely deliver their products to market with the reintroduction of his bipartisan Haulers of Agriculture and Livestock Safety — HAULS — Act of 2021. “Ranchers and livestock haulers face unique challenges when transporting perishable crops and live animals, and the rules should reflect that,” Tester said. “This commonsense bill cuts the burdensome red tape that...
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., held a press call Thursday with Glendive Mayor Jerry Jimison, Bear Paw Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Tuss, Montana Farmers Union President Walt Schweitzer and Montana Hospital Association President Rich Rasmussen to discuss the direct impacts of the American Rescue Plan, recently signed into law by President Joe Biden. Tester said that, over the past year, he's spoken with hundreds of Montanans in a range of professions from health care...
One year into this pandemic, Montanans are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our vaccines are safe and effective, COVID-19 cases are falling thanks to the tireless efforts of our front line health care workers, and Spring is on the horizon. But even with this good news, we still have work to do before we get through the worst public health and economic crisis in generations. Over the past year I’ve had hundreds of conversations with families, workers, doctors, educators, veterans, farmers, tribes, a...
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Drop Structure #5 of the St. Mary’s Diversion, the spotlight remains on the unaffordability of critical repairs to the Milk River Project’s aged infrastructure. From Montana’s irrigators and farmers, ranchers, recreationists, and municipalities that span from Tribal Nations to Canada, the call for affordable repairs are continuing to grow. Not only are construction costs into the hundreds of millions of dollars, Montana’s irrigators alone are responsible for 74% of...
The three members of Montana's congressional delegation have introduced a bill to pay for work starting to rehabilitate the system that provides much of the water that runs through the Milk River each year and to study how much local users should pay for the rehabilitation. The St. Mary's Reinvestment Act, being introduced by Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., will authorize $52 million to rehabilitate the St. Mary's Diversion...
