A bill protecting landowners from state seizure of private water rights on state lands has begun debate in the Senate, but not without concerns about school funding, water rights cases and public land access. On Friday, March 21, Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, R-Savage, brought his House Bill 676 to the Senate Judiciary Committee after a series of tight votes in the House. Ler’s bill

The Montana Senate on Thursday, March 20, advanced a proposal that seeks to reallocate tens of millions of dollars of recreational marijuana taxes the state collects annually. Senate Bill 307, proposed by Sen. Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, would rejigger where roughly $63 million in marijuana taxes are directed, stripping allocations for wildlife habitat, state parks and youth

A fight over a beef promotion program saw boisterous debate in a Senate Agricultural Committee meeting last week. House Bill 119, brought by House Speaker Rep. Brandon Ler, would create the Montana Cattle Committee, which would run what’s called a “checkoff program,” or promotion program for a specific product, in this case Montana beef. Perhaps the most famous checkoff program was

Montana farmers are worried about being whipsawed in a trade war as the United States trades tariffs on farm products with China, Canada and Mexico. Wheat and lentil exports are likely to face tougher markets in the coming year as tariffs erode favorable trade terms in Canada and China, producers told Montana Free Press in mid-March. The current trade war is in some ways similar to a 2018

A bill in the Legislature would offer free school breakfast and lunch to all students who qualify for reduced meals. Supporters say it would offer critical help for children as grocery prices increase and food security becomes scarcer for families. Kim Popham, director of Public Policy and Research for the Montana Federation of Public Employees, urged the House Education Committee to support