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As a country, we’ve just come through easily the worst election of my lifetime and one where obvious weaknesses in our system were exposed. Most Montanans I talk to are eager to put those passions behind them and get back to normal. Turning down the temperature is going to take work from us all, but one thing that is definitely needed is an election process everyone agrees is fair and transparent. We rely on elections to settle disputes over our most closely-held values. We had an election where key states took days to call. Several states igno...
Greetings from Helena! We are halfway through the legislative session. All the bills without money on them had to be transferred from the Senate to the House, and vice versa, so it has been kind of hectic this week. In Fish and Game committee we had bills about wolves, bears and right of ways, which were all very emotional subjects. I think we need to eliminate some bears and some wolves and stand up for property rights. So that is how I voted. In Health and Human Services, we saw some bills about vaccines and whether they should be mandatory...
Greetings from Helena! We are well aware of the power outages in Eastern Montana and it has been the subject of discussion around the legislature. Almost every source of power had trouble during the ice storm in the south. Wind, solar, nuclear and gas-powered generators all had problems. We know that hydropower’s weakest season is the winter when water is not running as fast. The good old standby, safest, and most reliable power generator is coal. Yet between the bean counters and the environmentalists they have convinced the right people t...
Greetings from Helena! In Fish and Game committee we confirmed the Governor’s appointment for Director of FWP, Hank Worsech. A couple words that were used by the proponents to describe Mr. Worsech were “integrity” and “fair”. We also confirmed 3 members of the Parks Board: Jody Loomis, Russ Kipp, and Eastern Montana’s own Kathy McLean. These appointees, along with others from different departments, were all approved in the full Senate. In Health and Human Services Committee, we also considered a Governor nominee as Director of DPHHS, Adam...
Hello from Helena! The House of Representatives continues to be busy hearing and voting on important legislature. I appreciate all of the input I’ve received from Richland County residents on each of these important proposals. We recently heard HB 325, which proposed to break Montana into seven districts able to elect a Supreme Court justice. This would bring better representation to Eastern Montana, and my constituents overwhelmingly support this bill. This would be put to the Montana voters in 2022 to determine whether this becomes law. One b...
It has become increasingly obvious that the Bicoastal and D.C “elites” despise Middle America. Unfortunately, they are now the policy makers for the whole country. President Biden seems obliged to appease the elites at the expense of the rest of the country. Biden has signed a record number of 37 executive orders in the first week in office. His inner circle of advisors no doubt wrote his executive orders, and they effectively dismantled the recent accomplishments of conservatives. So much for the claim Biden that he was going to be a mod...
State Senator Steve Hinebauch has written that the Jan. 6 riots in the Nation’s capital were caused by ANTIFA disguised as Trump supporters and that identifying the “far right” as those that caused, “problems” during the administration change, was a farce. An editorial sidebar to Hinebauch’s legislative report stated the FBI refuted ANTIFA involvement and identified well-known Trump supporters photographed during the riot as members of Q-ANON and Proud Boys. Helena, MT area brothers Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes, who turned them...
Greetings from Helena! This week in judiciary committee we heard four pro-life bills. HB136 the Pain Capable Bill, HB140 which allows a pregnant mother to see the ultrasound of her baby before an abortion, HB171 which puts restrictions on abortion drugs and HB167 the Born Alive Bill. The Born Alive Bill simply states that a baby who survives an abortion must receive medical attention and not just put on a shelf to die. A few of the opponents of the bill were Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, The National Association of Social Workers, and Montana...
Hello from Helena! It is incredible to be a lawmaker in Helena this session-and I use the term “incredible” in both its positive and negative connotations. On the positive side, the House of Representatives moved five important bills to the Senate in Republican-led votes. HB 112 provides for the protection of women’s sports, requiring that athletes compete in sports according to their biological gender. There are important biological and physiological differences between men and women, and I stood up and spoke on the floor in support of prese...
Greetings from Helena! The bill that received the most interest that my committees dealt with this week was in Senate Fish and Game, SB111. This bill is aimed at giving people with physical disabilities the opportunity to use crossbows during archery season. Some of the people who testified would have great difficulty with a regular bow. The people using a crossbow would need a card from a doctor. I attended the Governor’s State of the State. The Governor promised to make the state of Montana more business friendly. One area he talked about c...
Greetings from Helena! We are starting to see more bills come before the committees and onto the floor. A couple bills we heard in Senate Health and Human Services committee were SB100 and SB108. SB100 deals with the corruption involving welfare benefits. DPHHS has the biggest budget in state government. SB108 takes power away from unelected officials (county health departments) and gives it to elected officials. In Senate Fish and Game, we heard SB115, which spreads the authority to approve Conservation Easements, and disperse millions of...
I was sworn in on Jan. 4 with my family watching from the Gallery. I am honored to represent House District 35 in the House Agriculture, Education and Judiciary Committees. The 67th Legislature hit the ground running. We’ve started hearing bills in committee, heard from State Department Heads, and made our first votes on the floor. House Bill 102, sponsored by Rep. Seth Berglee, passed the House this week and is now headed to the State Senate. The bill protects the constitutional right to carry a firearm for self-defense by allowing individuals...
In the last election, Montana voters chose to legalize recreational marijuana starting in 2021. Medical marijuana use is currently legal in both North Dakota and Montana. North Dakota has not legalized recreational use. While many may be celebrating, gun owners should beware. Marijuana continues to be an illegal substance to use or possess under federal law. Such use or possession will subject you to being a restricted owner of firearms. To be more specific, if you use or possess marijuana, recreationally or medically, you are restricted from...
Greetings from Helena! The 67th Legislative Session has begun. This session I am again on the Senate Judiciary committee, which is a very active committee. We meet in the mornings Monday through Friday. It is one of the busiest committees in the Senate. We worked on a few clean up bills this week. The committee I am on which meets M-W-F afternoons is Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety. My committee on Tuesday and Thursday is Senate Fish and Game. I will be serving as the chairman of Fish and Game this session. We have talked about our...
Greetings! Another year is about to end, and a legislative session is about to start. I am honored to have been re-elected by the people from Senate District 18. Through the election the people gave a loud and clear message to those of us in the legislative process; the people of Montana want freedom! I acknowledge that COVID-19 is a real virus and any loss of life is tragic. Nevertheless, Montanans have been impacted by the reaction to COVID-19 in several ways: from businesses suffering, to the impact on the election process, to the lack of ac...
In today’s world, it can be hard to find the time to stay connected to your family. Parents and kids are always on different schedules, playing sports, attending classes, running errands, or, in some cases, just too tired to make the effort. With all the hustle and bustle of modern life, more than half of American parents say that they share less family dinners than they did as kids, even though 78% agree that family meal time should be a high priority in their family. Well, they are absolutely right! Family meal time should be one of the t...
Dear Editor, In matters of government my main interest is public education. Public schools are especially important in this area because with shrinking population public schools are evermore the center of the community. I watched Pat and Brenda Mischel bring up their four kids with deep involvement in the children’s schooling and, concomitantly, the whole school system. They were serious about teacher conferences; they were involved in homework. In addition, Pat ran for the Unified Board and served, fully involved. Pat freely volunteered for t...
Dear Editor • I am writing in response to a recent letter from Susan Peterson from Glendive. Ms. Peterson had attended a community session on Human Trafficking. She criticized Senator Steve Hinebauch for not being in attendance. • Unlike his opponent, Steve has a ranch and a business that requires him to work. In further reading the letter I find it interesting that the presenter said basically the same things Senator Hinebauch has been saying about human trafficking -- it is a community problem, not just a problem for law enforcement to handle...
Dear Editor: I have followed Austin Knudsen since 2011, his 1st year in office. I have personally known Austin for several years. Austin and his wife, Christie, have a great family. One thing I am confident about Austin is that he will be tough on crime. As Roosevelt County Attorney, Austin has worked hard to fight the drug problem and bring those responsible to justice. Austin is a strong supporter of law enforcement; so don’t believe the lies told by his opponent. Austin Knudsen is pro-life, pro-family, pro 2nd Amendment, pro-property r...
Dear Editor Why does our current state senator continue to try and cut funding for our schools and teachers? I was alarmed when I saw that Steve Hinebauch supported education only 20% of the time. Guess what? After a little more research, I found only one other senator, Bob Keenan, had a worse voting record when it came to education. Shame on you Steve! In 2019 he voted against HB 211, which addresses recruitment and retention of quality K-12 educators. Our current senator voted against HB 638, which funded special education programs in our...
Dear Editor: Experience and Safety in the Attorney General Race Raph Graybill comes to the Attorney General as the only candidate who served as a law enforcement officer as a member of the NYPD. In private practice he represented inventors and entrepreneurs harmed by unfair business practices by multinational corporations and banks. As Chief Legal Counsel to Governor Bullock, he went to court against the federal government beating the IRS when they tried to shield dark money groups from disclosing the names of their corporate donors. He took...
Dear Editor, In 2019 State Senator Steven Hinebaugh voted NO on Hanna’s Act HB 21, which provided for a specialist with the Department of Justice to coordinate efforts between local, state, Federal, and tribal authorities in missing persons cases, as well as oversee information entered into the national data bases for missing persons. He also cast the ONLY NO vote on SB 147, which would revise laws concerning human trafficking and sex crimes in order to better protect victims. Despite our supposed isolation here in eastern Montana we are not i...
On behalf of the Office of Sheriff and my staff, I want to express our appreciation for your continued support during these trying times. We are seeing changes across the nation affecting the relationship between law enforcement and the public. Our community continues to show their confidence, providing morale support and funding our work with your tax dollars. The year 2020 has presented Richland County residents with many challenges relating to economics, health, education and public safety. As Sheriff, I recognize these challenges and...
Dear neighbors, It’s summer in Richland County. Like you, my days are filled with sunburns, hard work, and spending time outside with loved ones. However, as your local librarian, there is one pressing topic that I would like to visit about with you: the 2020 Census. I know there is a lot going on right now and the census is easy to overlook, but the stakes are too high to do that, and our community has too much to lose if we don’t act quickly. Right now, only 51.9% percent of Richland County residents have responded to the Census – that puts...
I find it ironic and disheartening that Senator Daines, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, voted for the 2017 tax bill, which primarily benefited our richest people and our largest corporations and is projected to add $2 trillion to our national debt. Senator Daines also opposed legislation that made it more difficult to raise taxes on people earning less than $250,000 and voted for legislation to make the tax cuts for our largest corporations permanent. If anyone had any doubt where Senator Daines’ priorities lie, those votes make it c...
