MTPR News

Power to thousands of homes was knocked out Wednesday night as a severe thunderstorm swept through western Montana.

Last week was another major deadline for lawmakers to pass bills out of one house and send them to the other. Mara Silvers, Shaylee Ragar and Ellis Juhlin discuss the politics and policies inside the Montana Statehouse as lawmakers enter the last few weeks of the session.

It's time to debate changes to Montana's Constitution. Lawmakers look at ways to address the state's affordable housing crisis and make rules about what local governments should and shouldn't be able to do to address climate change.

A $14 billion budget passed out of the Montana House with support from the Republican supermajority. Democrats don’t have the power to change it, but they still tried. Host Nadya Faulx and reporters Eric Dietrich, Ellis Juhlin, and Arren Kimbel-Sannit discuss the debate over how the state should spend tax dollars.

Lawmakers have spent the last week digging into budget negotiations as House Bill 2, the state's primary budget bill, takes shape. Some of the highest profile debates have been about health care access and how much the state pays Medicaid providers.

Hundreds of bills were left on the cutting room floor at the legislative session's midway point. Now, as lawmakers head into the second half, they're turning more of their attention to finalizing the state’s next two-year budget.

Reporters Mara Silvers and Shaylee Ragar discuss this week's deadline for lawmakers to pass general bills out of their original chamber. There’s a lot of policy to consider, including rules about access to abortion.

A bill to establish Indigenous Peoples Day in Montana is defeated, but some lawmakers are moving to Plan B. Plus, a debate stirs over property taxes, and Republicans say new legislative districts put them at a disadvantage.

Today is legislative day 31 of 90 — meaning we're a third of the way through the 68th Legislature. This week, lawmakers are starting to piece together the biggest part of the state budget — health department spending — and world views about LGBTQ rights are colliding over rules for public schools.

Host Mara Silvers talks to reporters Arren Kimbel-Sannit, Eric Dietrich and Shaylee Ragar about changes to the judicial branch, the budget surplus and tax proposals.