Montana
Lawmakers Propose Special Session to Criminalize Undocumented Immigration, Regulate Nonprofits in Montana – Flathead Beacon
A group of Montana lawmakers is calling for a special legislative session to regulate undocumented immigration and reconfigure statewide marijuana tax revenue. The proposal arrived a week after a migrant family landed in Kalispell, spawning calls for tighter immigration policy from Republican officials and unsubstantiated allegations of migrant trafficking directed towards a local nonprofit.
Speaker of the Montana House Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, on Tuesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen asking that Jacobsen poll lawmakers to convene a special session on June 24. In the letter, Regier called for legislators to restrict the entry of undocumented migrants into Montana, as well as regulate businesses, nonprofits and individuals who aid migrants.
Penned by Regier, the letter was signed by Republican legislative leaders, as well as Flathead Valley lawmakers Rep. Tanner Smith, R-Lakeside; Rep. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork; Rep. Amy Regier, R-Kalispell; Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls; Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila; Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell; and Sen. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork.
Regier told the Beacon that he is open to various ideas for restricting the movement of undocumented immigrants into the state and lauded recently passed legislation in Texas and Iowa.
Texas last year passed a law that allows state police to arrest individuals for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Under the law, a person can be charged with a misdemeanor if a police officer believes they have evidence that the person illegally crossed the border. The law is currently blocked by a federal appeals court.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds last month signed a bill modeled off of the Texas legislation that makes illegal immigration into Iowa a state crime. Under the law, state courts would be allowed to order the deportation of undocumented immigrants and state agencies would be able to transport migrants to ports of entry. The bill is set to go into effect July 1; however, it may face similar legal challenges to the Texas law.
Regier said immigration is now “front and center here in Montana.”
Republican officials last week called for the deportation of a Venezuelan migrant family that landed in Kalispell and floated unsubstantiated claims that local nonprofit Valley Neighbors had conspired with the Biden Administration to transport migrants to the area. Valley Neighbors said they did not help the migrants travel to Kalispell, and officials could not provide any evidence that the group transported the migrant family or worked with the federal government to relocate immigrants.
Regier said he would be open to criminalizing nonprofit groups, individuals and businesses who hire and/or aid undocumented migrants.
Tacked onto the letter is a request for lawmakers to iron out the distribution of marijuana tax revenue. A popular bill to funnel marijuana funding towards county road repairs and conservation projects died last month after lawmakers voted not to override a veto by the governor. The once widely supported bill soured for lawmakers after procedural mishaps led the judiciary to compel the executive branch to carry out a veto override poll.
According to Regier, the court weighing in on the matter was “unconstitutional” and lawmakers should return to Helena to iron out the issue.
This is the fourth request for a special session by lawmakers since the Legislature adjourned last spring. Democrats in July and the conservative Montana Freedom Caucus in November called for special sessions to address rising property taxes, both of which failed. Twelve Republican lawmakers earlier this week called for a special session to consider bills allowing Supreme Court candidates to run with a party label. Supreme Court races are currently nonpartisan.
A 2018 special session called by Gov. Steve Bullock cost nearly $210,000.
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HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.
“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.
It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.
(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)
Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026
“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”
But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.
“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.
Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.
“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.
The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.
The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.
“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.
While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.
Montana
Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round
BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.
The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.
MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.
MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74
MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.
Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.
Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.
But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.
As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.
Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Montana Western 65, Carroll 56
After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.
Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.
The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.
Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.
Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.
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