Montana

Montana legislative leaders discuss expectations for the 2025 session

Published

1 year ago

January 4, 2025

Montana legislative leaders discuss expectations for the 2025 session

HELENA — On Friday, with just three days to go before the start of the Montana Legislature’s 69^th session, lawmakers were already at the State Capitol – some going through trainings on state law and the budget, others laying out their priorities for the session.

However, the real work starts on Monday. Legislators will have 90 working days to make decisions on key issues for people across the state, from taxes to health care to housing.

Republicans again hold the majority in both the House and Senate – as they have for every session since 2011. Sen.-elect Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, the incoming Senate president, says he’s expecting a “conservative bent” to the session, especially in light of the Republican victories at the federal level.

Regier says he believes it’s not a matter of whether lawmakers will approve tax relief this session, but of how much relief they’ll approve and how it will be done. During the 2023 session, Republican leaders endorsed a package of six tax- and budget-related bills that moved quickly through the process. Regier said it may be different this time around.

“I don’t picture it going through fast and unanimous at all,” he said. “Everybody’s got an idea of where they want to cut taxes: The governor obviously wants income tax, I know the Senate wants property tax, they’re talking about vehicle license fees – that goes to the general fund and it doesn’t need to – whether it’s child tax credit, veterans’ pensions, Social Security exemption – there’s been a lot of ideas floated around in the Senate.”

Regier said he believes his caucus wants to take a harder look at the state budget, to find areas where they can address spending.

Democrats in the Legislature have said tackling what they call a “crisis of affordability” in Montana is their top goal. They want to prioritize property tax relief as well, though they’ve argued their own proposals will be focused on targeting that relief to lower- and middle-income Montanans. They want to see more state investment in child care and in public schools, and to increase support for affordable housing.

House Minority Leader Rep. Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, believes, despite differences, there are still areas where Democrats can find common ground with Republicans.

“I think the people of Montana have made it quite clear what we need to do when we get to Helena in January, and that includes property tax relief, housing costs, affordability of our everyday-to-day lives,” she said. “I think those are all big areas for bipartisan support, and I do expect that we work together to get those things done as quickly as possible.”

Sullivan also said she hopes the Legislature will act quickly to extend Montana’s Medicaid expansion program, so it doesn’t hang over the entire session. Republicans in the Legislature remain split on whether to continue the program.

One area GOP leaders are putting special emphasis on this session is proposed legislation to reform Montana’s judicial branch. Regier and House Speaker Rep. Brandon Ler, R-Savage, held a news conference at the Capitol Friday morning to highlight some of the 27 draft bills that came out of a Republican-led committee during the interim.

During the last two sessions – dating back to a 2021 dispute – Republicans have accused judges of systemic bias against conservatives and of issuing rulings that overstepped their proper authority. Those arguments have continued after more rulings this year – notably the Held v. Montana climate change lawsuit.

“With the egregious overreach of our judicial branch. I believe it is our job as the Legislature to do our due diligence in being their check and balance on government,” said Ler Friday.

Some of the most notable proposals include making judicial elections partisan, creating a new “Court of Chancery” appointed by the governor to handle business and constitutional cases, and changing the procedures for evaluating and disciplining judges.

Democrats have consistently pushed back against what they call “attacks on the judiciary,” and they refused to participate in the committee that proposed the 27 bills. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, said he believed judges are doing their jobs properly, but that legislative leadership simply didn’t like the rulings.

“If you weaken the judicial branch, you are in effect weakening the power of our constitution,” he said. “We know Montanans love their constitution, and we want to make sure that our judges have the ability, in an impartial way, to uphold the integrity of that constitution. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that we can deliver that for Montanans.”

The 2025 legislative session will officially get underway on Monday, Jan. 6, at noon, when House and Senate members take the oath of office.

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Montana’s measures to tackle housing crunch offer hope for Michigan

Published

7 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Montana’s measures to tackle housing crunch offer hope for Michigan

News Story

State House considers reforms that allowed greater variety of construction in Big Sky State

Michigan could follow Montana’s lead after state House members introduced a bipartisan package of bills aimed at making housing less costly.

“The bipartisan Housing Readiness Package modernizes our development processes to reduce unnecessary costs and delays, making housing more affordable and available across the state,” according to a press release from the House Republican caucus. “This is about ensuring Michigan is prepared for growth and that more residents have access to safe, stable homes.”

The package draws on ideas Montana successfully enacted in 2023 and 2025 to ease the state’s housing shortage. It includes Michigan House bills 5529, 5530, 5531, 5532, 5581, 5582, 5583, 5584 and 5585. The package is intended to restrain cities and counties from restricting accessory dwelling units, duplexes, and other non-single-family units; to limit protests and impact studies on developments; and to reduce local red tape.

Housing costs in Michigan have almost doubled in recent years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Michigan has exceeded the pace of housing inflation found in other states.

The average price of homes in the state was about 75% of the national average in 2012, but it is roughly 82% of the average today, according to Jarrett Skorup, vice president of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Inflation, interest rates, and rising construction costs have increased housing prices, Skorup told Michigan Capitol Confidential, but local government red tape is still making things worse.

“A lot of this is because of dumb, unnecessary, big-government policies at the local level,” Skorup told CapCon in an email. “This bill package protects the private property rights of citizens in a way similar to what Montana and many other states have done. It is good policy that will help people afford to live where they want.”

Montana made changes to legalize duplexes, allow accessory dwelling units, open commercial zones to housing, and permit taller buildings that can accommodate more housing units.

The laws faced a legal challenge, but the Montana Supreme Court unanimously upheld the bipartisan legislation.

“There are a lot of similarities between what is being proposed in Michigan and what we accomplished in Montana,” Forrest Mandeville, a Republican state senator from Stillwater County, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email.

Montana enacted laws that call for freedom to build duplexes and accessory dwelling units by right (with no need for extra approvals) in many cities. The Big Sky State also streamlined review processes and simplified public participation.

“These reforms were necessitated by a housing market that was seeing prices skyrocket and existing zoning that created a lot of single-family-only development in large areas,” Mandeville said.

A broad coalition supported the changes: builders, real estate agents, free-market advocates and some local government groups, Mandeville told CapCon. Housing prices and rents have stabilized since the legislation was enacted.

“We tried to get government out of the way to encourage building without red tape,” Sen. Jeremy Trebas, a Cascade County Republican, told CapCon in an email about the housing situation in Bozeman. With a population of 60,000 and slow growth, the city faced a housing crunch, with a large inventory of aging and obsolete buildings. Expensive housing and taxes, Trebas said, were driving people to move to Washington, California and other states.

“If we could change land-use policy, encourage development of higher density like duplexes as infill, allow for housing in commercial zones (as it was a 100 years ago), reduce minimum lot sizes, and allow by-right accessory dwelling units and such, we could let the market work to produce density and supply without spending government dollars to incentivize it,” Trebas said.

Opponents of Montana’s reforms expressed concerns about more people moving in from out-of-state, said Trebas. He countered that Montana natives were hurt by high costs that price upcoming generations out of the housing market.

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‘Hannah Montana’ Vinyl Returns to Charts Following 20th Anniversary Special

Published

19 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

‘Hannah Montana’ Vinyl Returns to Charts Following 20th Anniversary Special

The buzz over the Miley Cyrus special has also led to a surge of renewed interest in the show’s popular soundtracks

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Hannah Montana celebrated its 20th anniversary this week with a brand new special on Disney+ that reunited Miley Cyrus and company for a look back at the nostalgic Disney Channel series. While the special unveiled plenty of surprises (including a new song and celebrity cameos), the buzz over Hannah‘s anniversary has also led to a surge of new interest in the show’s popular soundtrack.

Hannah Montana spawned five studio albums, including a soundtrack for Hannah Montana: The Movie. It also led to Best of Both Worlds Concert, a live album that featured Cyrus performing both in character as Hannah and under her own name. All of the albums were originally released on CD, though vinyl pressings of each release came later as well. Three of the albums debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and all of them were later certified gold or higher by the RIAA.

Now, a number of the albums have returned to the bestsellers list, with four Hannah LPs currently sitting in the Top Ten of Amazon’s soundtracks chart. Here’s a look at the trending releases and how to buy them online.

Hannah Montana [Green Splatter LP]

This Hannah Montana vinyl has returned to the top ten of Amazon’s overall soundtracks chart. This is the soundtrack to season one of the Disney Channel show in an Amazon-exclusive “green splatter” colorway. While the original soundtrack was released in October 2006, this vinyl edition was released this past January ahead of the show’s 20th anniversary.

Best Of Hannah Montana [Clear LP]

Amazon’s bestseller is this “Best Of” LP, which comes in an exclusive limited-edition purple vinyl colorway. First released in 2011, the album was later made available on vinyl in 2019. Hot off the 20th anniversary special, the LP has returned to number one on Amazon’s Disney soundtracks chart.

Hannah Montana: The Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Hannah Montana: The Movie, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Lavender Eco-Mix 2 LP]

This two-LP set features all the songs from Hannah Montana: The Movie, which hit theaters in 2009. The track list includes hit songs from the original film like “The Climb,” “Butterfly Fly Away” and “Hoedown Throwdown.” It also includes the 2009 “movie mix” of “The Best of Both Worlds.” The discs come in a lavender colorway inspired by the colors in the show logo.

Hannah Montana 2 (Original Soundtrack)[Color Splatter LP]

Hannah Montana 2 [Color Splatter LP]

This LP features songs from season two of the Disney Channel series, including hits like “We Got the Party,” “Nobody’s Perfect” and “Life’s What You Make It.” Amazon has this available on a special “color splatter” vinyl.

All of the above vinyl releases are part of limited-edition drops that are exclusive to Amazon.

Hannah Montana – Hannah Montana 3 LP

Urban Outfitters, meantime, has this tie-dye edition of the Hannah Montana season three soundtrack on vinyl. From Walt Disney Records, the LP gets you 14 songs on a groovy, 70s-inspired disc.

Need somewhere to play your new Hannah Montana vinyl? Amazon has this light pink record player on sale for under $60 right now as part of the site’s Big Spring Sale event.

Victrola Journey II (2025 Model) – Bluetooth Suitcase Record Player

Victrola Journey II Bluetooth Suitcase Record Player

From popular turntable makers Victrola, the Victrola Journey II is the latest version of the brand’s bestselling suitcase record player, which offers a portable way to take your records on the go. This unit features a three-speed turntable, built-in speakers (with “enhanced bass”) and both Bluetooth capabilities and headphone outputs.

A star-making vehicle for Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana ran for four seasons from 2006 to 2011. You can stream every Hannah Montana episode and Hannah Montana: The Movie online through Disney+.

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Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 25, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 25, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 25 drawing

07-21-55-56-64, Powerball: 26, Power Play: 4

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 25 drawing

02-04-09-30-43, Star Ball: 04, ASB: 03

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 25 drawing

01-07-14-22, Bonus: 12

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 25 drawing

35-38-41-43-62, Powerball: 08

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Montana Cash numbers from March 25 drawing

01-16-17-25-30

Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 25 drawing

01-26-40-46-50, Bonus: 03

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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