News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1472 - 1496 of 3221
I firmly believe Montana farmers and ranchers care deeply about developing and growing consumer confidence and trust in the products we painstakingly raise. It’s a key goal in helping a growing urban demographic understand why we’re so passionate about our agricultural and rural lifestyles and to help them understand what goes into producing the food they eat. Country of Origin Labeling — COOL — rules were one way Congress and the USDA tried to make it easier for consumers to decipher where their beef and pork product...
The Montana Cattlemen’s Association is very disappointed that the Montana Legislature refused to enact a Montana Country of Origin Labeling law (Mt-COOL). Although the bill did receive limited bipartisan support, it was primarily the majority party that refused to vote for this common sense proposition overwhelmingly supported by Montana’s consumers and livestock producers. The proposed law was based on the Mt-COOL law which was enacted by the 2005 Legislature. This 2005 law had a sunset clause for when a national COOL was...
I know that I said (quite plainly), “I am not going to buy any more pots for my plants.” I spoke these words quite sincerely, often, back when I had accumulated a total 100 (plus a small number) pots. I counted several times, trying to be, wanting to be, wrong. Plants, flowers, bushes, have a done-by date, just as we do. Some I’ve pulled out by their dead roots and reused their containers. But I’ve also made changes in my garden, some of which require more containers. For exa...
Montana has for decades been at the forefront of wildlife conservation among states in the West. We have the best hunting and angling in the country, and Montana has long set the standard in hunting ethics. As Montanans we value fair chase as an essential part of our sporting heritage, and that’s why we banned game farms nearly two decades ago. We also have many laws and regulations on the books to ensure that fair chase hunting persists. Put simply, fair chase means the animal has a reasonable chance to get away. But one a...
The 66th legislative session has come to an end. As speaker of the House, it was my goal to uphold the integrity of the House. As a leader in my caucus it was my goal to foster unity not conformity. We can be united behind the primary ideals of our party without losing individuality. It has been an honor to be selected by my peers to fill this roll. In looking at our accomplishments this session, several positive actions stand out. First, it was a goal of ours to keep taxes low and we were successful in stopping over a...
This past Thursday was the last day of Montana’s 66th legislative session. In the Senate, after passing some key bills to fund the state for the next two years, a motion was made to do something about tie votes in interim committees. As everyone was trying to figure out how that all would work, a substitute motion was made to “sine die,” and with that came a quick end to the session. Now, we wait to see what bills the governor is willing to sign. I am happy to say there is money coming to this area for drinking water proje...
I have been struggling with how to broach an indelicate personal subject with the polite words needed in a public platform such as this, but I don’t know if there is a delicate way to say that my cat Tony has fallen deeply, madly and inappropriately in love with me. It’s a bit startling. For both of us, I think. I get it, though, right? This is the first time he’s felt this safe and content with a human. He doesn’t know what to make of this happy feeling. He’s always retained his early lessons for feral cat survival:...
Several weeks or months ago, all the women in the Rancho jumped onto the latest diet-craze roller coaster. One at a time. I’m not sure how or why. Each is beautiful in her own way. I say “all” the women. I mean all but myself. I wasn’t invited. Not that I would have bought the ticket. I once rode that carnival ride and it cost me dearly. I have not dieted since. When I was in high school, several girls attempted the diet of that time. When I make up my mind to do somethi...
When women and girls go missing in our state, it’s not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem — it’s a Montana problem. And it’s an urgent one. Not much research exists on the epidemic of Indigenous women and girls going missing or being murdered. But we do know that in Montana, where human trafficking is on the rise and there are serious flaws in our missing persons reporting system, hundreds of people have gone missing and their families are still left wondering what happened to them. That’s why this legislati...
This past week, I had the pleasure of having my grandson J.R. Seewald not only stay with Judy and me in Helena, but also work with me on the floor of the Montana state Senate as a page. The first week of April, I sponsored Samantha May from Chester as page for the Senate. With all the news coverage and excitement going on in Helena, I think taking a moment to highlight the great work of these high school volunteers is a welcome change of pace. So, thank you to both Samantha...
Earlier this week a friend of mine was puzzling over why English speakers use the word “disgruntled” all the time, but we never drop the “dis” prefix and say “gruntled.” A “disgruntled” customer can file a complaint, but why don’t we ever hear of “gruntled” people being satisfied with, well, anything? “Gruntled” is actually an official word. I think we don’t use “gruntled” because it doesn’t sound like what it means: pleased, contented, satisfied. Words like “dreary” an...
I felt lost the whole week. I had absolutely no sense of direction. How could I tell? I have long been able to orient myself to water. I sense the presence of a body of water. On our last day, luggage packed for return, I stood on the balcony over the Caribbean. “I got it!” I said to myself. Sometimes I am a slow learner. The Caribbean Sea is to the east, not the west. No wonder I have felt so disoriented. I had spent the entire week upside-down, so to speak, heading in the...
On April 2, 2019, Montana Senators Jon Tester, Democrat, and Steve Daines, Republican, announced their bipartisan support of the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support — CARES — Act to fund research, training, and services and supports that improve the lives of people with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental and intellectual disabilities. This includes diagnostic services, training for healthcare providers and family members, and community training events. The reauthorization of...
Polls consistently show that Montanans support public lands and access to them. And yet, the 2019 Montana Legislature consistently opposed bills that improve access and supported bills that reduce it. Of the four bills that would have improved access, three died. Meanwhile, the anti-access bills, HB 550 and HB 265 garnered more support. Luckily, HB 550 died on the Senate floor after massive action was taken by Montana’s hunters and anglers. But sportsmen and sportswomen are deeply disappointed that the Legislature passed H...
The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Twenty years later, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in more than 190 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. One example of this movement, Earth Day Network works year...
For the record, I don’t need anyone to applaud me or approve of the way I negotiate life for me to feel validated, but sometimes that kind of support makes me want to laugh like a jerk, “haaaa haaa hah!” while pointing my bust-a-cap fingers in that sort of “middle-aged white woman tryin’ a be all gansta” way. A clean house? Overrated. And now they’re also a waste of taxpayer dollars in Beaverton, Oregon, where a babysitter got several cops, including a canine unit, involve...
Remember a few weeks ago I stayed in the sleaziest hotel in Chacala? Lovelytown. Ugly hotel experience. This week, thanks to the generosity of Kathy and Richard, I am in the most posh hotel in Cancun, which says a lot! Cancun is “Tourist Mecca,” jaw-dropping beauty. Our friends also invited Leo. Leo started as our gardener. Now he is our friend. It is our bonus that he helps us with gardening. Kathy said that this is the Ultimate Blowout Vacation, making use of timeshare point...
As a Montanan, veteran, and state senator, I am proud to sponsor Senate Bill 300 — a bill that protects property rights. The bill would create a grandfather clause for owners in HOAs to keep only their most basic property rights that were permitted when they bought their properties. This grandfather clause is similar to the grandfather clauses in code in 37 states and in Montana’s own zoning laws. Currently in our state, HOAs and condo associations are depriving individual Montanans and families of their constitutional pro...
Americans pay the highest brand-name drug prices in the world. Congress, the administration and importantly, our own Montana state legislators must take action now to lower prescription drug prices, the root cause of this problem. That’s why AARP is launching a national campaign urging federal and state policymakers to Stop Rx Greed by cracking down on price-gouging drug companies. AARP’s goal is to help lower drug prices for all Americans through decisive actions and solutions aimed not only at the Federal level but als...
This past couple of weeks, Judy and I were blessed to have family here to visit and show the grandkids the Montana State Capitol. Mari and kids here from Washington and Maci and kids from Wyoming. It was too bad their spring breaks weren’t at the same time. Judy and I really enjoyed their visits. It was my honor this week to sponsor a CJI student as a Senate page. Samantha May did a great job. Wednesday, myself and a number of other legislators, a lobbyist and staff sat at a luncheon for a brief question and answer forum f...
This past week, the Montana House of Representatives passed both House Bill 652, the Long-Range Bonding bill, and House Bill 658, the Medicaid Expansion bill. The Bonding bill passed the floor with 68 yes votes and 30 no votes, and the Medicaid Expansion bill passed with 61 yes votes and 37 no votes. I opposed House Bill 658, the Medicaid expansion bill, largely because the non-severability clause in the bill was removed and replaced with a severability clause. This means that if a court finds that any portion of the law is...
I attended the Town Hall meetings at Plentywood to discuss hour reduction at the U.S. Port of Raymond-Regway Canadian Port of which is a 24-hour commercial port. The proposed hours of operation would be from 6 a.m. to midnight. Canada — Regway — remains 24-hour. U.S. Customs and Border Protection had proposed the hour reduction in 2015, we resisted, they reconsidered and it has remained a 24-hour commercial port. We can’t rail at CBP, they didn’t create the problem, so its up to “We the People” to work with Montana’s c...
I am a passionate defender of property rights. They are a foundational principle of our U.S. and Montana Constitutions. But as a resident and owner in a Montana community with a homeowners association, or HOA, I am both saddened and outraged that SB 300 is currently being rushed through our state’s Legislature. It is an affront to the principle of protecting property rights, contracts, and local democracy by its almost certain unintended consequences if signed into law. In fact, as even the lawmakers’ own Legislative Ser...
It’s spring, so the annual harassment has begun about my fat horses. It didn’t help that we went to see some friends over the weekend and all their horses looked trim and fit. Apparently the difference between our horses’ physiques was glaring, but I came to our defense. I was, like, “What are those faint ripples on their torsos between their shoulders and hips?” And everyone was, like, “Ribs.” So I was all, “Ribs? I’ve heard of them. Are you sure it’s not some trick of light...
Time flies and the older I get, the faster it fugits. As I contemplate yet another birthday, that mean ol’ tempus is fugiting at the speed of light. To add injury to insult, this weekend we will set the clocks ahead in Mexico. I know, you up north are already over the shock of change. In a few days I will struggle to remember what time it really is, whatever that means, since “time” is but an arbitrary measure. Before I wax too philosophical, let me change directions and n...
