Carly Graf

4 days ago | helenair.com | Carly Graf |Seaborn Larson |Victoria Eavis

With only a little more than a week to spare until the start of a new fiscal year, Gov. Greg Gianforte on Friday signed off on the state’s primary $16.5 billion two-year budget bill, advancing all but $31 million worth of the spending priorities tucked into it by the 2025 Legislature. House Bill 2 is the state's main spending measure. It funds government operations, chiefly agencies and their programs, through a mix of federal and state dollars.

1 week ago | helenair.com | Carly Graf |Victoria Eavis

Following failed votes at the legislative session and a series of decisions Friday by Gov. Greg Gianforte, Montana families struggling to access child care are unlikely to see relief in the near future. Gianforte, a second-term Republican, vetoed House Bill 456 on Friday, a measure that would have extended an existing child care subsidy program to parents who work in the industry.

1 week ago | helenair.com | Carly Graf

Vital health services like testing for sexually transmitted infections, pap smears to screen for cervical cancer, contraception and pregnancy education are at risk all over Montana after the Trump administration two months ago unexpectedly froze millions of dollars that have flowed into the state for five decades. About 20 clinics statewide, but especially in rural communities, rely on the federal dollars to offer reproductive and sexual health care to low-income earners and uninsured patients.

2 weeks ago | billingsgazette.com | Seaborn Larson |Carly Graf

Robocalls are a hallmark abrasion of election season, so it seemed abnormal to Rep. Llew Jones, a longtime Republican legislator from Conrad, to hear them in an off-year. More unusual yet is that those automated voice messages target Jones for his role in engineering the state budget, a matter that’s no longer in his hands after the Legislature adjourned a month and a half ago.

2 weeks ago | helenair.com | Carly Graf

Recently enacted state rules for day care facilities forbid licensed child care centers from enforcing universal vaccine mandates. The change has elicited frustration and even panic among some industry professionals and families in Montana who say it leaves them unable to ensure the health and wellbeing of young kids.