Articles written by Eric Dietrich
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Political district-drawing commission finalizes its sideboards
HELENA — Montana’s Districting and Apportionment Commission voted Tuesday to finalize the criteria it will use to draw Montana’s new U.S. House and state legislative districts using data from the 2020 census. The commission previously approved...
Federal spending drives Montana budget
HELENA - Montana lawmakers approved about $16 billion in spending during the 2021 legislative session, more than $17,400 per Montana resident. That's money for everything from plowing highways to...
Montana grows into a second U.S. House seat
Montana will gain a second representative in the U.S. House as seats are reapportioned according to population counts from the 2020 census, the U.S. Census Bureau said last week. The news means that, starting with the 2022 election, Montana will...
Multibillion stimulus bill aims to spur Montana into post-COVID prosperity
HELENA — Racing to beat a procedural deadline, Montana lawmakers have advanced a first-draft plan for spending billions of dollars in federal stimulus money through an initial vote in the state House less than three weeks after President Joe Biden...
New round of federal COVID-19 aid means billions for state of Montana
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, passed by U.S. Congress Wednesday and heading to the desk of President Joe Biden, will bring billions of stimulus dollars into Montana under the auspices of a wide-ranging effort to pull the...
Montana Legislature : How will the GOP spend its mandate?
On November 3, Montana voters gave the GOP unified control of state government, electing a Republican to the governor's office for the first time in 16 years, Republican candidates to all statewide offices, and expanding GOP majorities in the state...
When local news isn't local
A late July article from Big Sky Times looks at first glance like a piece of old-fashioned investigative journalism, published on what appears to be a modern news website. "Montana media, GOP failed to investigate Bullock's conduct," reads its...
High court avoids 'impermissible bias' question in solar utility ruling
HELENA - The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a ruling from last year in which a state District Court judge criticized the Montana Public Service Commission's handling of a rate contract dispute between a solar power developer and NorthWestern...
Analysts say state budget looks OK for next year
HELENA - State government is facing a $300 million-plus revenue cliff in the coming year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, legislative analysts told lawmakers last week. Regardless, it's looking...
Counties will have option to conduct all-mail elections in November
HELENA - Gov. Steve Bullock issued a directive Thursday giving Montana counties the option of shifting to all-mail ballots for the November general election as they did for the June primary, saying the order gives local election authorities a way to...
Lagging rural census response could cost Montana second U.S. House seat
HELENA - Members of the commission tasked with redrawing Montana's legislative boundaries following the 2020 census expressed frustration over the state's dragging response rate in Native communities and other rural areas June 10, citing complication...
Familiar names headed to general election for Montana's federal seats
When it comes time for Montana voters to decide who they'll send to Washington, D.C., in November, the names on the ballot will be familiar. As U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, looks to win his second six-year term, he'll be challenged by...
Task Force shares recommendations
HELENA - An advisory council appointed to help Gov. Steve Bullock decide how to spend $1.25 billion in coronavirus relief money from the federal government submitted its formal recommendations...
Bullock details phased reopening plan
HELENA - Gov. Steve Bullock unveiled the state's official plan April 22 for gradually shifting Montana out of anti-coronavirus emergency mode, specifying dates for scaling back his stay-at-home directive and reopening some non-essential businesses...
Who - and why - Montana tests for COVID-19
HELENA - Jim Murphy, Montana's chief epidemiologist, has heard the same stories most everyone in the state has heard about residents who've made unsuccessful attempts to get themselves tested for...
What the $2 trillion stimulus bill means for Montana
Editor's Note: This story was originally published by Montana Free Press. For more information, please visit www.montanafreepress.org HELENA - Four days after President Donald Trump signed the...
