Archive for Agriculture
By Courtney Lowery, NewWest News
The opposition that lined up against House Bill 445, or the Farmer Protection Bill, last week wasn’t exactly unexpected.
Whether the bill would make Montana “unfriendly to business” was one topic of conversation. Another line of questioning involved whether the bill would scare off big bio-tech companies, such as Monsanto, from investing research dollars in the state’s university system. Read More→
Bridge access bill near compromise
Posted by:By Charles S. Johnson, State Bureau
Opponents of a bridge access bill raised some concerns at a Senate hearing Thursday, but the bill’s sponsor said he’s confident these differences can be ironed out.
Twenty-five people representing groups ranging from the Montana Wildlife Federation and Trout Unlimited to the Montana Farm Bureau Federation and Farmers Union lined up for House Bill 190, by Rep. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, before the Senate Fish and Game Committee. Attorney General Steve Bullock also endorsed it. Read More→
The Old Supreme Court chambers were full when Rep. Mike Phillips (D) HD 66 of Bozeman introduced HB 253, titled the “Wild Buffalo Recovery and Conservation Act.” Phillips bill looks foster a bipartisan solution for bison by improving the management of America’s publicly owned, wild plains bison.
"I think that it’s going to all work out, with the changes that we have agreed to. It’s not as much (spending for some programs) as I would’ve hoped, but apparently it’s more than other people wanted. As usual, we are trying to find the middle.” 
"[On term limits:] You empower the executive, you empower the lobbyists and that's not good for the system because then we lose what the citizen Legislature brings.” 