Government

News from the Montana Department of Revenue   MONTANA – The Montana Department of Revenue has begun the process to make licenses available for recreational marijuana cultivation and sale by Oct. 1, 2021, following the recent voter approval of Initiative 190.  “There’s a lot of work ahead before the first legal sale of non-medical marijuana in Montana, and before the first license is issued,” said Gene Walborn, director of the department. “We look forward to working with the public and all interested parties as we develop guidelines around this new industry to move it forward, while also protecting public safety and raising revenue for the stat...

 Last Tuesday’s election changed the hue of Montana from purple to deep red, firmly anchoring Republicans at every level of state government, from the governor’s mansion on down. In the federal arena too, Gov. Steve Bullock succumbed to Republican incumbent Steve Daines in the race for the U...

News from the office of Governor Bullock MONTANA — Governor Steve Bullock today highlighted the beginning of the 2020 open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act and promotion and outreach efforts to ensure Montanans have quality and affordable health insurance coverage, especially during t...

News from the office of Governor-elect Greg Gianforte BOZEMAN — Governor-elect Greg Gianforte today named Mike Milburn as chairman of his gubernatorial transition. “I’m excited that Mike Milburn will lead our transition,” Governor-elect Gianforte said. “Mike has the know...

LAKE COUNTY – Katie Harding steps into her new role as interim Lake County Clerk and Recorder Oct. 28, when the county commissioners make her appointment official.  She replaces Paula Holle, who retired recently after 31 years in county government. Harding also occupies an office once held by h...

News from the Office of Senator Tester   U.S. SENATE — Critical mental health resources will be more accessible than ever for folks in crisis following the signing of U.S. Senator Jon Tester’s bipartisan National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 into law.  “Nobody sh...

 News from the office of Senator Tester U.S. SENATE — Following more than a year of efforts to get the United States Department of Agriculture to drop a proposed rule that would have kicked 700,000 low-income Americans off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, U.S. Senator Jon Tes...

News from the office of Governor Bullock MONTANA — Montana’s unemployment rate returned to a near-normal level of 5.3 percent in September after dropping from 5.6 percent in August. Economists typically consider normal unemployment levels to be between 4 percent to 5 percent.  The na...

News from the office of Senator Tester U.S. SENATE – Following years of efforts to provide Montana Tribal communities with more opportunities to develop reliable broadband infrastructure, U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced that seven Montana Tribes have received approval from the Federal Communicat...

News from the Montana Department of Commerce MONTANA — Montanans who have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible for rent and mortgage payment assistance, but time is running out to apply for the monthly assistance. The Montana Department of Commerce announced Wednesday all appli...