The campaign rhetoric, struggles for political power and results of the 2024 election converge in the 69th meeting of the Montana Legislature.
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Join us Monday mornings for The Session — a breakdown of the latest action we’re watching in the statehouse, produced by Montana Public Radio, Yellowstone Public Radio and ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ.
season 3
Week 8 | Blasted bills, and the property tax debate continues
Priority legislation for the Montana American Indian Caucus is revived and advancing through the statehouse. Lawmakers are at odds over how best to ease the burden of property taxes.
Week 7 | Hot Buttered Shenanigans
Factions in the state Senate are cleaving further apart and impacting the chamber’s work. Debates over education policy are heating up.
Week 6 | Big Feelings About Wolves and the Environment
Montana Public Radio and ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Reporters Ellis Juhlin and Amanda Eggert break down the major environmental flashpoints emerging at this year’s legislative session with host Shaylee Ragar. In particular, they dig into bills around wolves and the controversy around the Montana Environmental Policy Act, incited by the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Held v. Montana case.
Week 5 | Tracking bills, abortion, and more drama in the Senate
Host Shaylee Ragar sits down with Mara Silvers and Eric Dietrich of the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ to get into the latest flareup of drama in the Senate, abortion policy after CI-128 and a new tool to track legislation from MTFP.
Week 4 | An everything bagel of chaos
Lawmakers have begun an ethics investigation into a sitting senator. Legislation concerning transgender health care and bathroom use is moving through the process.
Week 3 | Throwing Spaghetti and Squeezing Balloons
As legislators throw spaghetti at the wall to see what will make it through committee, host Shaylee Ragar and reporters Mara Silvers and Eric Dietrich discuss the specifics of debates over Medicaid expansion and property tax relief.
Week 2 | New website, new problems, and how to get engaged
Host Shaylee Ragar discusses tech issues at the Capitol with reporters Austin Amestoy and Zeke Lloyd. They break down what that means for how the public and reporters alike can follow and engage with the action in Helena, along with the bigger picture of public comment during committee meetings and a new development on legislative junque files.
Week 1 | Sausage making and an early GOP divide
This week, host Shaylee Ragar and reporters Tom Lutey and Mara Silvers dig in to how the — literal and metaphorical — sausage gets made and what an early GOP divide could mean for the rest of the session.
The Session: We’re back. So are newly elected party leaders.
The Session is back for the 69th Montana Legislature. This week, we preview lawmakers work that starts January 6. Reporters talk about new party leaders, legislative rules, and how the governor wants to spend public money.