Missoulian: AP Investigation: Rehberg underreports lobbyist donations
For months, Montana Republican congressman Denny Rehberg has been criticizing U.S. Sen. Jon Tester for being the leading recipient of campaign cash from lobbyists. But it turns out Rehberg has been taking donations from some lobbyists without disclosing their place of employment.
Helena Independent Record: Advocates keep up push for Tester forest bill
Supporters of Sen. Jon Tester’s forest bill remain hopeful that the measure can be passed despite a tough re-election fight for the first-term senator.
Conservation groups and logging companies continue to push for the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, which would designate more than 670,000 acres of wilderness on three national forests while mandating 8,000 acres per year of logging for 15 years.
The Republic: Baucus, Tester says Montana Air National Guard promised new mission, plane by administration
The Montana Air National Guard is being promised a new airplane and a new mission to replace the F-15s being taken away.
U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus say the Obama administration promises to include a new mission based around the C-130 transport plane as part of the president’s new budget plan.
The Hill: STOCK Act now makes senators squirm
Senators are now squirming over fast-moving and supposedly non-controversial legislation aimed at barring lawmakers from making insider stock trades.
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which cleared a procedural hurdle this week on a 93-2 vote, has become a magnet for amendments that could have significant impact on the power and perks lawmakers have enjoyed for decades.
Missoulian Editorial: Adjust, don’t cancel, plan: Keystone XL should go forward with expedited assessment, review
While many supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline project were worried that President Barack Obama’s decision to approve it or not would come only after much partisan wrangling and unnecessary delay, it turns out his decision was made prematurely instead.
The White House issued Obama’s announcement more than a month before the Feb. 21 deadline mandated in recent congressional legislation. Aware that the permit process was in danger of dragging on well past the November elections, House Republicans attached the deadline requirement to the payroll tax cut extension in order to force a decision on the issue before it became a political football. Unfortunately, the president’s decision ensured that the project will indeed be delayed – and will indeed remain an election issue.
Hungry Horse News: Tester, Rehberg disagree on campaign reform
The race for Montana’s Senate seat between incumbent Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg has already drawn significant corporate campaign spending, and much more cash will be dumped into the race in the coming months.
Last week, Tester said he supports two constitutional amendments that would allow Congress to regulate campaign spending by corporations and labor unions.
NPR: Sen. Jon Tester Decries Citizens United’s Impact In Montana, Nationally
The contest for the seat held by Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, is one of the potentially close 2012 races that could ultimately decide whether Democrats maintain control of Congress’ upper chamber.
As such, the battle is attracting attention from outside groups hoping their financial assistance will make a difference for both the first-term Democrat and his Republican challenger, Rep. Denny Rehberg, the state’s sole House member and a former lieutenant governor.
Montana Standard: Guest Editorial: Separating myth from fact in FJRA
Shortly after Senator Jon Tester introduced his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (FJRA), I got a call from a woman worried about Tester taking away her elderly friends’ right to drive their pickup into the East Pioneer Mountains to enjoy summer picnics.
“Wait a minute,” I replied. “Don’t you and your friends understand that wilderness only involves the wildest, most remote places where there are no roads?” I explained that the places where we drive on forest roads aren’t roadless lands. They’re not affected in any way by wilderness designations.
Missoulian: Tester wants accounting of groups reimbursed for suing government
Scrutiny of the Equal Access to Justice Act went bipartisan on Monday when Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., submitted a bill calling for a complete accounting of how much the fund pays people and groups that successfully sue the federal government.
Billings Gazette: Guest opinion: Coalition built trust to create balanced forest bill
Montana’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act again came close to passage last month. The bill aimed at creating jobs and improving forest management enjoys strong support in Montana and growing support in the U.S. Senate.
But as FJRA gains momentum, opponents appear to be shifting tactics. Because so many Montanans have united around FJRA’s collaborative approach to creating jobs and resolving national forest conflicts, outright opposition has become politically imprudent.
