Montana
Montana Nurses Association: Support nurses in union contract, at legislature – Daily Montanan
Some 650 nurses at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula are entering mediation on a union contract a labor leader said will shape the hospital’s ability to care for patients going forward.
“This contract negotiation is really going to be telling on the future of St. Pat’s as we know it,” said Cassidy Dillon, a registered nurse and bargaining team member for the Montana Nurses Association Local 17, in a phone call Tuesday.
The COVID-19 pandemic dealt blows to the healthcare industry, and Dillon said St. Pat’s has been “tremendously affected” since 2020.
First-year turnover rates for nurses are 20 to 30% mainly because the professionals cannot establish roots in Missoula, Dillon said. The health care workers face high property taxes and rising housing costs.
“They have been priced out of Missoula,” Dillon said.
St. Patrick Hospital is part of the Providence system, which operates in 51 hospitals and 1,000 clinics in five states, according to its website.
St. Patrick’s Director of Communications Stacy Rogge said in an email the hospital has been negotiating with the union since Jan. 16, and 12 bargaining sessions are scheduled through March.
“We are glad to be back at the table this week,” Rogge said in an email. She also praised the mediation process ahead. “Federal mediators help find common ground, and having them involved throughout the remainder of the bargaining process will accelerate our path to agreement.”
Dillon said as the Local 17 enters mediation at St. Pat’s on its first contract negotiation since 2020, nurses are hoping the result will be a plan that brings stability to patients for the next 10 years.
In negotiations, she said nurses are focused on recruitment and retention; keeping nurses local; safe staffing ratios; and reducing workplace violence.
To support its industry, the Montana Nurses Association also has pushed for change at the legislature in the past and will continue to do so, said Robin Haux, labor program director for the Montana Nurses Association.
Recruitment and retention
Dillon said nurses want to stay in Missoula, but at least one-in-five leaves in their first year here because of financial constraints.
“If we have nurses constantly coming and going in this revolving door, your loved one isn’t going to have those experienced nurses to take care of them,” Dillon said.
Starting pay for a nurse in Missoula is $31.60, or $65,728 a year based on a 40-hour week.
That’s close to the median household income in the county of $66,840, but it’s much less than starting pay for a nurse at a Providence hospital just a couple of hundred miles away.
For example, a nurse who works in Spokane for Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center earns $41.13 an hour, or 30% more than a starting nurse in Missoula, according to labor contracts.
That amounts to $20,000 more annually in Spokane based on working 40 hours a week.
Dillon said the nurses are precluded from discussing the details of their contract negotiations, but base pay is always a consideration.
Rogge offered another data set.
Citing Becker’s Hospital Review, she said annual hospital nurse turnover rate in December 2023 was 22.5%. However, she said St. Pat’s turnover rate “is much lower” at 15% — and has been improving the last several years.
“Providence St. Patrick Hospital is committed to reaching agreement on a fair contract that will help us recruit and retain the best nurses while staying true to our mission of sustainably serving all members of our community,” Rogge said.
She also said negotiations have been positive and productive so far.
“While many dynamics impact nurse turnover, no one solution can resolve it,” Rogge said. “We are proud of the progress we are making and are committed to focusing on this issue.”
Dillon said St. Pat’s is “pretty good” at listening to nurses about how to fill staffing holes, and it is relying less on expensive traveling nurses than it did in the past. However, she also said local employees have been frustrated about the expenditure on outside nurses.
“Why not take that money and invest in us?” Dillon said is the sentiment among nurses.
She said the current contract negotiation is the most “involved” one St. Patrick Hospital has had in a long time. She said a mediator arrives Wednesday.
“We live to serve our community,” Dillon said. “We want to stay here. We want to continue to better our community. But again, we need Providence to invest in us. And right now, they’re not showing us that.”
Violence against nurses, staffing standards
Patient and nurse safety are also a priorities for the nurses, and the union is advocating for input in staffing ratios in the new contract and may lobby for related legislation in 2025, the nurses said.
Dillon said violence against nurses is prevalent, and it usually occurs when a patient is not of sound mind or delirious and attacks a nurse physically, verbally or sexually. She said nurses and St. Pat’s are updating policies to better protect nurses.
“We’re making headway,” Dillon said.
In an email, St. Pat’s Rogge said the hospital has a record of supporting nurses.
“We have a long history of collaborating with Montana Nurses Association on contracts that advance the nursing practice, are market competitive, and meet the needs of our nurses and our ministry,” Rogge said.
During the 2023 Montana Legislature, lawmakers passed House Bill 590, which requires health care employers to ensure workers who experience violence report incidents to the provider. If the worker consents, the employer must report to law enforcement.
The bill, sponsored by Great Falls Republican Rep. Ed Buttrey, also calls for the Department of Justice to produce an annual report based on reports from health care employers.
Haux said felony penalties exist for attacking police officers, K-9 officers and referees, but not for nurses, although she said the union will take direction from members on how to proceed at the upcoming legislature on any lobbying efforts.
However, she said the Montana Nurses Association may push for another version of House Bill 568, which was tabled last session but would have set nursing-patient standards for hospitals. She said such standards result in better outcomes for patients.
She said ratios and standards vary depending on a hospital’s location — in a rural place versus urban, for example — and based on a department’s needs and patient acuity.
But Dillon said as St. Pat’s addresses those ratios in Missoula, nurses want to be part of the conversation. She said they want to offer more input into safe staffing standards and are asking for it in contract negotiations.
“Patient safety and positive patient outcomes are our primary goals,” Dillon said.
A restraining order has been issued that blocks the Montana Republican Party from enacting new bylaws intended to drive nonconformists…
A restraining order has been issued that blocks the Montana Republican Party from enacting new bylaws intended to drive nonconformists out of the party ranks.
Lewis and Clark County District Judge Michael F. McMahon issued the restraining order Wednesday morning. The order had been requested by county precinct committees and officers suing the state party organization over the new bylaws. The plaintiffs are the Yellowstone County Republican Central Committee, the Choteau County Republican Central Committee, and individual committee members Jeff Essmann, Ted Kronebusch, James Wilson and state Rep. Brad Barker, R-Red Lodge.
At issue are bylaws passed during MTGOP’s June platform convention that the litigating party members say amount to “fraudulent and corrupt practices.” The new bylaws require members to pay $20 in annual membership dues and pledge a loyalty oath, and subject members to removal from elected party positions for nonpayment of dues or for “conduct deemed inconsistent with party purposes,” as determined by executive party party officers. The new bylaws allow charges for removal to be brought by any 20 official Republican Party members.
Montana Republican Party Chairman Art Wittich, the only official spokesperson for the state party, has not responded to voicemails and texts sent to his cell phone Wednesday. Wittich, elected party chairman in June 2025, has long been emphatic about exposing “Democrats disguised as Republicans” — for Wittich a now decade-old battle that spun into a bitter multimillion-dollar war between party hardliners and relative centrists in this spring’s Republican legislative primaries.
The centrists drew the ire of the hardliners in 2025 by collaborating with Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte and legislative Democrats to pass a balanced state budget and key pieces of legislation, including increased taxes on second homes and property tax reductions for primary residences and small businesses.
What constitutes disqualifying conduct isn’t fully spelled out in the bylaws, but they do specify that “collaborating with Democrats” in the Legislature, the governor’s office, the courts, or elections can get members disciplined or removed.
The lawsuit alleges that “The 2026 bylaws empower a small group within the party to revoke Republican affiliation from candidates or office holders, undoing primary nominations by the electorate.”
The plaintiffs argue that Montana voters, not party bylaws, should determine who represents the Republican Party in general elections and who represents voting precincts on the publicly elected county-level Republican committees that coordinate local political activity.
The Montana Legislature in 2019 passed a bill protecting publicly elected party precinct committee officers from being arbitrarily removed from office and defined attempts to do so as “fraudulent and corrupt practices.” That law, sparked by Republican Party infighting 10 years ago, is the foundation of the current lawsuit.
There has been a surge of public interest in Republican precinct-level politics following a perceived lack of support by party hardliners for Republican candidates in conservative strongholds like Flathead County, where more than 60 new precinct committeemen and committeewomen were elected in June. That wave of new officers was preceded by Flathead County Republican Central Committee members considering an endorsement of Libertarian Sid Daoud for Kalispell mayor over Republican Kisa Davison in late 2025. The Kalispell mayor’s race is nonpartisan, but Republicans have gone to court to secure the party’s right to endorse candidates in nonpartisan races.
Wittich’s own campaign for precinct committeeman representing Whitefish was a casualty of that new wave of public interest. He lost to Republican Giuseppe “G-man” Caltabiano, who serves on the Whitefish City Council.
Caltabiano’s wife, Roxanne Ross, defeated Candace Wittich, wife of the Republican chair, in the same election.
State law gives precinct officers two-year terms and specifies that they can be removed only for death, written resignation or loss of residency. The new bylaws state that participation in party governance, including service as a precinct official, “is a privilege of association, not a right conferred by public office or candidacy. Members must act in good faith to support the Party’s purpose and must not engage in conduct materially inconsistent with the Party’s interests, including conduct that undermines its platform, policy positions, election operations, or internal governance.”
The recent changes to the party bylaws allow precinct officeholders to be suspended from voting in party matters and replaced by party leadership for noncompliance. Empty precinct seats can be filled by the Republican Party chair.
“Every Republican candidate sells their version of Republicanism to the people in a primary campaign, and the voter chooses which version to buy,” the lawsuit states. “The party cannot dictate what brands of Republicanism are on the market.”
Former MTGOP chair Jeff Essmann, a plaintiff who is also a long-serving precinct officer, said in his affidavit that members of the Republican State Central Committee weren’t given a required notification about attempts to amend the bylaws. He said he would have attended the platform convention and argued against amending the bylaws if he had known.
“The 2026 Bylaws empower any twenty members of the Party to recommend any other member of the Party for expulsion from the party, to be determined by the State Central Committee, even people who do not reside in Yellowstone County and who have never met me,” Essmann said in the affidavit.
Other central committee members produced pre-convention emails about potential changes to the bylaws, but no details about the amendments.
In issuing the order, McMahon indicated that Republicans challenging the bylaws are likely to succeed. He set a July 13 hearing on whether to make the order permanent.
“Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims that the challenged provisions are inconsistent with Montana election law and constitutional protections governing candidacy, nomination, speech, association, due process, and elected precinct committee representatives,” McMahon ruled.
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This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Copyright
© 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 8, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 8 drawing
12-29-37-43-55, Powerball: 18, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from July 8 drawing
17-26-31-32-37, Star Ball: 01, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 8 drawing
03-13-16-17, Bonus: 10
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from July 8 drawing
06-27-33-44-69, Powerball: 23
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from July 8 drawing
08-16-17-22-27
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 8 drawing
16-18-43-48-50, Bonus: 01
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.
HELENA, Mont — Gov. Greg Gianforte is backing a new effort to keep data centers from driving up Montanans’ power bills.
This week, Gianforte announced Montana is signing on to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge — an initiative endorsed by President Trump.
Several major technology companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and XAI first signed the pledge back in March.
The pledge comes as data center development continues to grow — raising questions about how much new energy will be needed and who will pay for it.
NBC Montana spoke with Julia Haggerty, professor of geography and department head of earth sciences at Montana State University, about whether Montana’s power grid is ready for that growth.
“Not without resolution of significant transmission bottlenecks and massive amounts of new generation. So, while our grid is adequately, relatively adequately equipped to serve the needs of our current load base, it’s definitely not equipped to accommodate the new demands without a lot of expansion,” she said.
According to the pledge, data center developers will pay for new power generation, and infrastructure needed to support their operations.
“It does align with ongoing regulatory efforts to ensure that the cost of new generation associated with data centers is borne by the developers of those data centers and not customers,” Haggerty said.
The governor’s office says Gianforte’s support of the pledge is designed to encourage responsible data center investments while protecting Montana ratepayers from long-term costs.
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