News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1007 - 1031 of 2820
HELENA (AP) — House Republicans advanced a plan Thursday to end same-day voter registration that critics blame for long lines on Election Day, but supporters argue improves access to the voting booth. The measure, which cleared an initial 61-39 House vote on Thursday along party lines, would end voter registration the Friday before Election Day. Supporters of House Bill 30 argue the deadline provides ample time for voter registration, while freeing up county officials to deal with just traditional voters on Election Day. "Why...
HELENA (AP) — A Montana lawmaker says convicts should be allowed to get out of prison time if they instead agree to the "infliction of physical pain" — an idea that so far is receiving a cool reception. Republican Rep. Jerry O'Neil is drafting a bill that would allow those convicted of misdemeanors or felonies to negotiate corporal punishment instead of another sentence. The method used to inflict the pain would be decided by a judge. The veteran lawmaker said Wednesday that he thinks long prison sentences are inhumane. "Te...
HELENA — A Montana judge has blocked part of a voter-approved law that requires proof of citizenship or legal standing to receive state services, but he left most of it intact to "preserve the intent of the people." The law approved overwhelmingly by voters in November requires a person to provide proof that he or she is eligible for services from unemployment benefits to crime-victim assistance. Immigration-rights attorneys challenged the law in December, saying Legislative Referendum 121 violated constitutional rights to pr...
HELENA (AP) — The state Senate has endorsed a bill that would criminalize the employment of illegal immigrants. House Bill 297 would suspend the license of a business that employs illegal immigrants and would allow the prosecution of whistleblowers who provide false reports of illegal labor. The bill passed an initial Senate vote Wednesday along party lines. It has already passed the House Republican Sen. Verdell Jackson of Kalispell says the measure would discourage illegal immigrants from taking Montanans' jobs, while p...
HELENA — The Montana House advanced a pay raise for state employees and endorsed the governor's proposed fix for the beleaguered pension systems as lawmakers eyeing compromise turned their attention to big pieces of legislation. The lawmakers, with a month left in the session, face deadlines this week and next week to advance bills that spend money or deal with tax revenue. And they continued a trend Wednesday of finding bipartisan support for potential compromises between the GOP-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Steve Bul...
BOZEMAN (AP) — Ballots were mailed out Wednesday to Montana State University professors who will decide whether to keep their faculty union. The ballots went to 400 tenured and tenure-track professors after more than 30 percent of the professors requested a union decertification vote with the state Department of Labor and Industry. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that professors disagree whether the Associated Faculty of MSU has won better pay raises or benefits, caused the faculty to be treated more fairly or resulted i...
BOZEMAN (AP) — Tenured faculty at Montana State University have voted to decertify the union that has represented them for the past four years. Members of the Associated Faculty of MSU voted 190-185 in favor of dissolving the union. Union president Sandy Osborne said six contested ballots weren't counted. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/17klWZi ) the parent union decided not to challenge the election. MEA-MFT President Eric Feaver said he didn't see any election irregularities. Some professors began w...
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock is increasing pressure on Republican lawmakers to accept federal money for Medicaid expansion. The Medicaid health care program for the poor is funded primarily with federal money, along with some state tax money. The federal health care reform offers states a big chunk of federal money to expand it further to low-income workers who don't have insurance. But Republicans opposed to the federal program argue state costs for the program will eventually increase as federal money dries up. The g...
HELENA (AP) — Supporters of a bill that would criminalize the death of a fetus say the measure would offer the unborn legal protection but would not interfere with women's access to abortions. House Bill 104 adds the term "unborn child" to the existing deliberate homicide statute — which would add to the homicide charges if a person kills a pregnant woman and her fetus. The measure would also allow a homicide charge if a woman survives an attack but her injuries lead to the termination of her pregnancy. Republican Rep. Kei...
HELENA (AP) — The Senate is backing a bill that reduces from five days to 24 hours the time hunters have to wait after purchasing a license to hunt black bears. Republican Sen. Fred Thomas of Stevensville says House Bill 278 would allow for consistency in the law by requiring the same waiting period to hunt bears as that for wolves. Opponents argued the measure would increase incidences of poaching. They point to a 1994 Fish, Wildlife and Parks study that concluded that Montanans preferred the five-day waiting period. Some 2...
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Democratic senator who helped write President Barack Obama's health care law stunned administration officials Wednesday, saying openly he thinks it's headed for a "train wreck" because of bumbling implementation. "I just see a huge train wreck coming down," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., told Obama's health care chief during a routine budget hearing that suddenly turned tense. Baucus is the first top Democrat to publicly voice fears about the rollout of the new health care l...
HELENA (AP) — U.S. Sen. Max Baucus helped block a bipartisan effort to increase restrictions on gun sales. The Senate voted Wednesday to reject expanded background checks to more gun sales, instead of just those handled by licensed firearms dealers. Baucus said Montanans have told him "loud and clear that they are overwhelmingly opposed to new gun control laws." The six-term senator says the Obama administration needs to do a better job of enforcing current laws. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester voted in support of the background c...
HELENA — A bipartisan coalition in the House is restoring part of the session's big school funding bill. Senate Bill 175 is the result of a multi-year effort by various interest groups to improve the school funding system. It also seeks to reduce the burden on local property tax payers with the help of natural resource money. Conservatives opposed to the cost of the bill used their majority in committee to dramatically alter the measure last week. But Democrats joined a group of Republicans Monday on the House floor to r...
HELENA (AP) — The Montana Senate has rejected a measure that would have made it illegal for doctors and caregivers to help terminally ill people kill themselves. House Bill 505 was struck down Monday in a 27-23 floor vote after senators removed it from the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was stuck after failing to get a majority of support. The Montana Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that nothing in state law prohibits assisted suicide, effectively making Montana the third state to allow it. The Legislature previously f...
HELENA (AP) — A bipartisan measure backed by Gov. Steve Bullock hoping to force more disclosure on money in politics is hitting a roadblock. A Republican-controlled House committee tabled Senate Bill 375 on Monday. Supporters who argue it is needed to crack down on so-called dark money political groups were hoping the measure could be resuscitated with a longshot vote later on the House floor. Opponents argue anonymity is an important part of political speech in the country, and say the measure won't really solve any p...
HELENA (AP) — Bipartisan foes of the so-called dark money behind many political attack ads ran into some opposition Thursday as they try to shepherd a lengthy reform proposal though the Legislature. Republican state Sen. Jim Peterson and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock are teaming up on the measure that aims to force more disclosure about third-party money in politics. Their bill had its first hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. State Sen. Art Wittich, of Bozeman, a key GOP Senate leader, used the hearing to criticize t...
WEST GLACIER (AP) — A Glacier National Park official says the annual battle to clear Going-to-the-Sun Road of snow has begun and progress is about equal with previous years. Spokeswoman Denise Germann tells the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/15bh9es) that crews started work the week of April 1 and have found below-average snowpack at elevations under 4,500 feet. But she says there is above average snowpack at elevations above 4,500 feet. The road that bisects the park is a major tourist draw, but clearing it of snow is a m...
DECKER (AP) — From the time coal is scooped from the depths of the Spring Creek strip mine in Montana's wide-open Powder River Basin until it travels more than 6,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to power plants in South Korea, the price can increase more than fivefold. Mining companies, however, are only paying government royalties on the price of the coal when it is mined from federal lands, not when it is sold for more overseas, saving them millions of dollars in the process. As the Interior Department investigates the i...
HELENA (AP) — A bipartisan budget deal is restoring federal family planning money sought by Democrats and giving Republicans a permanent cut of 500 vacant state jobs. The Montana Senate is finalizing the state's main $9 billion budget bill that spends a combination of state and federal money. It covers services big and small: schools, driver's licensing, Medicaid, law enforcement and much more. Lawmakers huddled for two hours to start Saturday trying to reach a deal on two contentious issues. It produced a compromise that r...
HELENA (AP) — Montana lawmakers brokering budget deals Saturday restored federal family planning money sought by Democrats, and gave Republicans a permanent cut of 500 vacant state jobs. The Republican-controlled chamber endorsed the state's main $9 billion budget bill - a combination of state and federal money - in a 30-20 vote after an all-day session. It covers services big and small: schools, driver's licensing, Medicaid, law enforcement and much more. Fiscal conservatives voiced displeasure, including the majority leader...
HELENA — When voters went to the polls last November, they noticed several measures they do not typically see. The three referendums on the ballot came directly from the 2011 Legislature, and current lawmakers are aiming to do more of the same in 2014. They are running up against a deadline next week to propose referendum bills. So far, Republicans have made at least 15 requests on topics ranging from property taxes to sex education. "It is a good way to have people engaged with the legislative process," said Rep. Keith Regie...
HELENA, (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock signed the Legislature's main budget bill Friday — but not after first using his line-item veto authority to strike a small portion of the spending. Bullock said in his line-item veto message that he needed to reduce spending. His office said the reductions cut about $30 million, roughly 0.4 percent of the two-year, $8 billion budget. House Bill 2 cleared the Legislature with the backing of minority Democrats and some Republicans. But Bullock said lawmakers did not stick to his goals of a s...
HELENA — Montana legislative leaders decided Friday to send the governor five potential candidates for the commissioner of political practices post after deadlocking on efforts to trim the list. A panel of two Republicans and two Democrats interviewed five candidates Friday, but the group couldn't agree afterward which should be the top selections. AP Photo/Matt Gouras Commissioner of political practices candidate Jonathan Motl speaks to the selection committee on Friday, in Helena. Montana legislative leaders are sending t...
HELENA — A midnight court hearing in Kalispell helped a Montana prosecutor accused of assaulting a family member avoid spending last weekend in jail, but his attorney said there was no special treatment for the prosecutor and it was held out of concern for his safety. Flathead County Deputy Attorney Kenneth "Rusty" Park's attorney was arrested Friday night after a woman at his home in Kila called authorities. Park was charged with creating reasonable apprehension of bodily injury, which is a crime under the partner or f...
BILLINGS (AP) — A woman posing as a health care worker at a Billings hospital accompanied doctors on multiple patient checks, leading Montana health officials to warn employees at other facilities to be on the lookout for an impostor wearing scrubs or a lab coat. The woman has breached security at Billings Clinic an undetermined number of times, prompting Billings' other hospital, St. Vincent Healthcare, to circulate surveillance photos and a warning memo to employees. "She is a talented liar and will invent all sorts of s...
