OPI moves to correct procurement findings
After suspending the Office of Public Instruction’s procurement authority last month, Montana’s Department of Administration has accepted the agency’s plans to improve its contracting practices. DOA will reconsider the suspension after a follow-up review in July.
Latest Government Reporting
State suspends OPI’s authority to award contracts
A state-conducted review found that Montana’s Office of Public Instruction failed to adequately retain records associated with its contracts for third-party goods and services. Now that contracting authority is suspended pending corrective action.
A small-town reporter’s fight to open Montana’s judicial appointment process
An advisory council appointed by the governor to fill a vacancy in the 9th Judicial District held interviews and deliberations this week behind closed doors, despite the efforts of the Choteau Acantha.
Montana Senate passes public record request bill
What constitutes a “timely” response to public records requests could become quite a bit clearer if Senate Bill 232 passed the Montana Legislature. The proposal by Sen. Janet Ellis, D-Helena, unanimously passed the Senate on March 2.
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MORE GOVERNMENT REPORTING
Department of Justice seeks funding boost
The Montana Department of Justice is asking for a funding boost to hire more attorneys and pay legal expenses, citing, among other cost drivers, an increased “volume of constitutional challenges to state laws,” agency officials told a budget subcommittee last week.
Gallus named Montana’s new political practices commissioner
In accepting Gianforte’s appointment as commissioner of political practices, attorney Chris Gallus acknowledged his past work defending candidates in COPP disputes and said he fully intends to uphold Montana’s constitution and campaign practice laws.
Tschida to join PSC as executive director
Former Missoula lawmaker Brad Tschida will be joining the staff of the Public Service Commission as its second executive director, the agency announced.
The OPI shuffle
Last month, state Superintendent Elsie Arntzen announced a bit of agency shuffling at a privately owned office building on the corner of 11th and Montana avenues in Helena, just a few blocks north of the Capitol complex. As part of Arntzen’s ongoing effort to shrink her agency’s physical footprint, the Office of Public Instruction vacated…
Gianforte budget proposal puts state surplus toward tax cuts, infrastructure and Montana State Hospital
Gov. Greg Gianforte said Thursday the budget proposal he’ll submit to next year’s Montana Legislature will include more than $1 billion in income and property tax cuts while also using the state’s budget surplus to create a child tax credit, spur housing development and invest in health care and correctional facilities.
Lawmakers set to debate child welfare reforms
After six months of study, state lawmakers are set to debate a draft bill this week that could bring significant reforms to Montana’s child welfare system — changes some lawmakers and legal observers say are long overdue.

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