Despite concerns over inflation and rising gas and airfare costs, Memorial Day travel is projected to reach 99 percent of pre-pandemic levels. AAA expects nearly 42.3 million Americans to travel for the holiday. That’s an increase of 7 percent from 2022.“Air travel could hit an all-time high” with a 5.4% increase says Brian Ng, Senior Vice President of Membership and Travel Marketing for AAA Montana.
Author: Press Room
House Panel Squabbles over ESG Definition, Standards
By Kim Jarrett, The Center Square
The fight over ESG policies has occurred mainly at the state level, where legislatures have passed laws banning financial companies that use ESG standards from doing business with their state. Twenty-six attorneys general, including Reyes and Marshall, sued the Biden administration over allowing companies to prioritize ESG standards when choosing retirement plans.
Reyes called ESG an “undemocratic tax” on the economy and productivity.
“I’m here to warn you about the process involved in effectuating ESG goals,” said Reyes. “No matter how much you may agree with the policy being pushed if you deconstruct the process, it is a flawed and dangerous one and may also be illegal.”
Frerichs had a different definition of ESG, calling it “data.”
“ESG is simply additional information that investment professionals use to assess risks and return prospects,” Frerichs said. “The more data we, as investors have, the better informed our decisions are when selecting investments over the long-term.”
The two parties also disagreed over the costs of ESG. Republicans said ESG-based investments did not perform well. And ESG standards, particularly when it comes to fossil fuels, drive up consumer prices.
“If you look, particularly what’s driven inflation and what’s hit Americans in the pocketbook, including Alabamians, it’s been an increased cost of energy, part of that is attributable to decreased investment in what is currently producing the energy in our country itself,” Marshall said. “But beyond that, particularly, for example, in agriculture, is going to be the attack on agriculture as it relates to their responsibility, according to the left, for increased carbon emissions. The question is going to be do we find farmers discriminated against in their banking relationships, do we see farmers discriminated against in other financial relationships that impact their ability to do their job?
Democrats said state bans on ESG investing have hurt states.
A report from The Brookings Institution released last month said Texas’ ESG policies could cost the state “$300-$500 million in additional interest on the $31.8 billion borrowed during the first eight months following the implementation of the law.”
Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ken., said in a statement after the hearing the committee’s work on ESG was not done.
“No administration should be able to gamble with Americans’ retirements to fund its own political agenda in the private market,” Comer said. “We must expose and investigate the propriety and legality of this coordinated effort.”
Gun Sales Are in Decline in Montana
By Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square
Gun sales in America, as estimated by background checks, jumped at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained high until well into 2021. Several days and weeks in that period set all-time records. Total sales were 28,369,750 in 2019 and 39,659315 in 2020.
During the period of the increase, the number of first-time gun buyers jumped. First-time buyers have accounted for about 20% of new gun sales nationwide in 2020.
Recently, however, gun sales have collapsed. June gun sales last year totaled 3,054,726 nationwide. Last month, nationwide gun sales totaled 2,570,608. Compared to the first six months of 2021, there were 6.4 million fewer background checks for the purchase of a firearm, a 28.7% drop.
In Montana, gun sales are falling, but at a slower pace than the national decline. There were a total of 70,552 FBI firearm background checks in the state in the first half of 2022 compared to 85,087 in the first six months of 2021 — a 17.1% reduction and the 40th largest decline among states.
Everyone Can’t be Right
By Evelyn Pyburn
In reporting about the media misrepresentations, regarding Representative Kerri Seekins-Crowe’s experience in discussing the transgender issue of SB-99 during the state legislature, she said that after asking one reporter about why he wasn’t interested in her side of the story, he told her that while he didn’t want to lie, since the issue was “politics” he could basically “portray any truth he wants to.”
Although the statement is stunning, because he was so forthright it brought some enlightenment.
One of the most troublesome things in dealing with politics is the uncertainty one always faces in trying to decide the truth. No matter what side of the isle a politician comes from they are often masters at obfuscating the truth in self-serving ways. It’s almost a game to figure out what they aren’t saying or to untangle the words they do say.
Because of this, has media concluded that there are no rules when it comes to reporting political issues – that anything goes? A particularly troubling conclusion, since these issues are usually incredibly important.
The outspoken reporter helped to understand that maybe many in media have concluded that when dealing with politics there is no truth and its ok to report whatever feels good. Maybe this is how media has come to be so unreliable and so political itself. Rather than a source of enlightenment media has taken on the hue of politics, and one has to be wary about what to accept as solid facts— or the greater likelihood to realize that many consequential facts are left out of the information put forth.
While life brings the lesson that for the most part everyone has their own “truth”, given that contradictions cannot exist, we must also know that not all of them are right. While I can have empathy with the wistful bromide that in life some things that aren’t true should be true, saying so doesn’t make it so.
Much of our success as individual human beings depends upon how accurately we identify truth – how well we understand reality. If it’s a reality we want to change, that’s fine, but one is not going to be successful in changing anything that is not clearly understood.
Since there are so many different conclusions that people reach about truth, the ideal role of media is to bring as much information and ideas to the fore as possible, so each person can come to their own conclusions. To attempt to dictate truth, whether by media or anyone else, is the height of hubris – unless of course you are an individual who is never wrong.
When I am asked how to find objective information, my answer is that objective information is the responsibility of the inquiring individual. Get information from a broad range of sources. To sort through all kinds of conflicting data and distill it to what is real is the purpose of having a brain—of having the ability to reason. It is the defining characteristic of human beings. If one is counting on others to do this, good luck! That approach makes you vulnerable to serving the purpose of others—such as this reporter.
Gathering as much information as possible is our means of survival, which is why freedom of speech and access to information is so important. It is why censorship is such a despicable thing. Anyone who censors, twists or lies the information they present, is your enemy . . they are attacking your very ability to survive.
Construction Industry Expects Leaner Months Ahead
By Tu-Uyen Tran, Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota
This year’s construction season is expected to be leaner for a significant number of construction firms in the Ninth District compared with last year’s, according to a recent Minneapolis Fed survey.
About half of homebuilders and a third of firms in other sectors of the industry said they think profits over the next six months will be lower than in the same period a year ago
“Interest rates have taken a large portion of our buyers out of the market,” said the owner of a Wisconsin home construction firm. “Only higher end cash buyers don’t seem to be fazed.”
Nearly half of construction firms reported fewer new projects out for bid—known in the industry as requests for proposals (RFPs)—in what is normally a very busy season for them. Some respondents said more projects were delayed or canceled than normal.
The CEO of a Twin Cities architecture firm that works primarily in the commercial sector estimated that a third of the firm’s projects have been paused “based on lack of financing and financial stress of owners and developers.” The number of paused projects is still growing, she said.
Despite the gloomy forecast, however, many said they are optimistic about the future as they adapt to new conditions and seek out new markets.
The survey, conducted throughout April, included 254 respondents.
The construction industry has struggled with customer demand in the past year. A growing number of respondents have reported lower gross revenue since April 2022. In November, more than half of respondents reported lower RFP activity from private-sector customers in recent months compared with the same time period in 2021.
The hardest hit sector then was residential construction.
Up to that point, the industry had coped for several years with a tight labor market and supply chain disruptions resulting in higher project costs. 2022 added a new challenge with a sharp increase in interest rates. Benchmark prime loan rates exceeded pre-pandemic levels about midyear and kept rising. That made it harder for customers to afford the higher costs, especially homebuyers.
2023 could be déjà vu all over again for the industry with nearly half of respondents reporting lower RFP activity from private-sector customers in April. Residential construction was again the hardest hit.
“We simply are not getting the same amount of work we did three years ago,” said a Wisconsin homebuilder. “We have to bid more for the same amount of work.”
Outside of the residential sector, would-be customers are also trying to make sense of a changing economy . . . developers are trying to figure out what the market needs…
There’s also uncertainty about the direction the economy is going with so much speculation about a possible downturn and its timing.
All of which seems to have resulted in more hesitation among developers.
“There are projects being bid but not a whole lot of movement on them,” said a respondent from a Greater Minnesota subcontractor in the commercial sector. “Owners seem to want to ‘wait the storm out’ on a lot of projects.”
Projects that do get the greenlight, the respondent said, are mostly from large corporations, such as fast-food chains and big-box retailers.
Respondents are reporting elevated levels of project cancellations and delays. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they had seen more cancellations recently compared with three months ago; respondents in the industrial and residential sectors were more likely to report cancellations. More than half of respondents said they had seen more delays, again, with higher rates in the industrial and residential sectors. In the past, delays have often been associated with late delivery of construction materials. But responses in the April survey suggest that many customers are changing their minds.
While interest rates are a top concern for many firms, especially those in the residential sector, for the rest of the construction industry, this concern pales in comparison to labor availability and price increases for construction materials and other inputs. These emerged as the top two concerns for the industry as a whole outside of customer demand, according to respondents.
Even in the residential sector, interest rates were less commonly cited compared with input costs.
A Greater Minnesota architect in the residential sector said none of her clients understand how much higher prices are. “Disbelief causes numerous restarts on projects that come in significantly over budget [compared with] when preliminary cost-per-square-foot estimations come in from contractors. We advise but are not always believed.”
She said the average cost of a home has gone up from $350 per square foot to $500 or even $550. “It is shocking to all of us.”
About a third of respondents said they had experienced price increases of 5 percent or more just in the past three months, and another third said their prices increased between 1 and 5 percent.
These rapid price increases have led to changes in how builders do business.
The Greater Minnesota residential architect said she has to constantly request new bids from suppliers to find the best prices because those prices seem to change every week to two weeks. “This is exhausting.”
A Twin Cities subcontractor in the commercial sector said the firm focuses more on projects that can start immediately because material costs in the near future are easier to estimate. For projects that are further out, the subcontractor said, the firm errs on the side of caution and submits bids that assume high increases in material cost even if it means the bids aren’t competitive. “We’re unwilling to hold the bag on far out contracts that include materials. If we’re bidding work that’s out six months, we are severely marking up our bids to reflect past material uncertainties that cost us millions of dollars.”
Hiring remains a challenge for many firms. Of those that have hired or planned to hire, 57 percent described the labor market as very tight with most of the rest saying it was slightly or moderately tight. Only 3 percent said it wasn’t tight.
That’s put more pressure on wages. About a third of firms said they had increased wages by more than 5 percent in the past 12 months. About a fifth said they planned to increase wages by more than 5 percent in the next 12 months.
“It seems most employees are fishing for other jobs to get more money causing us to pay more to keep them,” said a respondent from a Twin Cities subcontractor involved in the residential and commercial sectors. “New applications are asking for $25 to $30 an hour with little experience.”
With higher costs and more competition for fewer projects, some respondents said they’ve had to absorb the higher costs themselves.
“We’ve had to reduce our profits and margins in order to secure jobs,” a Wisconsin homebuilder reported. “This is not a sustainable practice as the cost of doing business keeps increasing and our gross proceeds are decreasing.”
Despite the many challenges respondents reported, a majority of respondents reported a positive to neutral outlook with 48 percent saying they are optimistic about the next six months and 29 percent saying they are neutral.
Even in the residential sector, 41 percent are optimistic and 28 percent neutral.
One reason respondents are more positive than their financial situation might suggest is they’re looking for opportunities in different markets and are feeling good about their chances of success. The owner of a Twin Cities residential subcontracting firm, for example, said that as fewer people look to build new homes, he’s focusing more on remodeling projects, where he believes he’ll have a better chance of winning contracts.
Most firms, including this subcontractor, are still hiring. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they had hired in the past three months, and three-quarters said they plan to hire in the next six months. Those figures are only slightly lower than a year ago but double what they were two years ago, when the industry was on the upswing and interest rates were much lower.
For some contractors, the challenges faced by the construction industry are the new norm they will learn to live with.
Billings Building Permits May 15, 2023
Commercial
Yellowstone County/ Sprague Construction Roofing Division, 2323 2nd Ave N, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $71,428
Vannoy Properties LLC/ Vannoy Metal Works, 1318 Monad Rd, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $120,000
Shiloh United Methodist Church/ Kirkness Exteriors. 1810 Shiloh Rd, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $51,200
Decker Holdings, LLC/ Empire Roofing Inc, 3545 Hesper Rd, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $279,589
Billings Clinic/ Empire Roofing Inc, 1045 N 30th St, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $94,281
Yegen Grand Ave Farm Inc/ Stout Building Contractors LLC, Cardwell Ranch Urgent Care, 3043 Meadow View Dr, Com New Hospitals/Institutions, $1,100,000
Billings Hotel Developers LLC/ Maurer Construction, 3350 Ember Ln, Com New Hotel/Motel, $4,558,414
Ac Investments LLC/ Mccabe Electric, Inc, 2102 2nd Ave N, Com Remodel, $51,500
A Diamond Infra LLC/ Ethos Distributed Solutions Inc, Tower 970 S 29th St W, Com Remodel, $15,000.00
Shiloh Crossing Partners LLC/ Jones Construction, Inc, 820 Shiloh Crossing Blvd, Com Remodel, $10,000
Montana-Dakota Utilities Co/ Langlas & Assoc., Inc., 5181 Southgate Dr, Com Addition, $1,178,000
St Lukes Episcopal Church/ Donahue Roofing & Siding LLC, 119 N 33rd St, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $10,682.00 Yellowstone County/ Sprague Construction Roofing Division, 217 N 27th St, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $29,750 Diamond Two LLC/ Bespoke Of Montana LLC ,1690 Rimrock Rd, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $15,000
Kirby Kapital, LLC/ EEC Inc, 1486 S 30th St W, Com New Other, $765,500
Nedrow, David/ CBMS LLC, 733 Lake Elmo Dr, Com New Other, $10,000
Neal C La Fever Trust/ Verizon, 2902 1st Ave N, Com Remodel, $20,000
Residential
Lavinder, Lisa/ Rob’s Custom Construction, 198 Mountain View Blvd, Res New Accessory Structure $45,312
Clause, Jock & Kathy/ Jeff Engel Construction, Inc, 5650 Canyonwoods Dr, Res New Accessory Structure, $125,000
Mike Christensen/ Michael Christensen Homes, 2522 Buffalo Ridge Trl, Res New Single Family, $450,000
Infinity Homes/ Infinity Home LLC, 925 Anacapa Ln, Res New Single Family, $176,872
Infinity Homes/ Infinity Home LLC, 931 Anacapa Ln, Res New Single Family, $174,158
Infinity Homes/ Infinity Home LLC, 937 Anacapa Ln, Res New Single Family, $174,158
Infinity Homes/ Infinity Home LLC, 943 Anacapa Ln. Res New Single Family, $175,720
Bill Rejects Extreme Regulatory Burden on Energy Projects
By Evelyn Pyburn
As a concern to the future of the planet, research on global warming is on-going. Despite the politics of it and the media’s contention that it is a proven phenomenon, it is not. Much costly research has yet to be done and imposing that burden on any single business as a condition to do business is to essentially deny the business to exist. Regulations meant to assure safe and environmentally sound operation of a business were not meant to place such an extreme burden as a condition for permitting.
A district court judge to insert a demand into regulatory law that a Montana business must take on research that would demonstrate that their activity would not impact the climate is an unreasonable expectation. As a result of such a court decision the Montana Legislature has passed HB 971 which Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed into law, that will prohibit the state – agencies like the Montana Department of Environmental Quality —from considering climate impacts in analyzing large projects such as coal mines and power plants.
The proposed legislation was by far the most controversial environmental legislation with those opposed citing polls of what people believe, rather than fundamental evidence that human beings are impacting climate conditions on the planet.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, introduced the legislation in response to a 13th District Court Judge Mike Moses ruling revoking the permitting on NorthWestern Energy’s gas plant at Laurel, which has been strongly challenged by the Montana Environmental Information Center.
Kassmier said that his bill “underscores that it’s lawmakers, not judges,” who set the state’s policies. Supporting the legislation were Treasure State Resources Association and the Montana Petroleum Association, who called the court’s decision as an “unworkable” mandate to measure greenhouse gas emissions and that it belong in federal regulations such as the Clean Air Act.
BEA:Hospitals Largest Industry
Samuel Stebbin, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square
Pick any two cities or towns in the United States, and each will be home to people who work in very similar fields. Certain occupations in areas like education, sanitation, law enforcement, health care, and retail are common across the country as they are practical necessities.
Still, the occupational makeup of different parts of the country varies in other important ways that are influenced by the regions’ history, geography, natural resources, local laws, and demographics. These factors can have considerable economic implications and lay the foundation of a given area’s industry composition.
In Montana, hospitals are the largest industry, accounting for 4.7% of the state’s total GDP of $52.9 billion. The industry’s annual economic output totals $2.5 billion, a 23.8% increase over the last five years.
Overall employment in the industry totals about 25,600, or 5.3% of all jobs in Montana. Among these workers, the average annual compensation is $65,511, compared to the average of $44,883 across all occupations in the state.
All data in this story on employment and output is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and is for 2019, the most recent year for which data is available. Data on wages is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With only a few exceptions, the largest industry in each state is real estate. As a result, we did not include the real estate sector in our analysis. We also excluded all government sectors.
Ag Finalists Selected for Montana Leopold Conservation Award
Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the award recognizes farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners who inspire others with their dedication to land, water and wildlife habitat management on private, working land.
Goggins Ranch of Ennis in Madison County, Kurt and PJ Myllymaki of Stanford in Judith Basin County and Peterson Angus Ranch of Drummond in Granite County are the three finalists
. Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust present the Leopold Conservation Award to private landowners in 27 states for extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. In Montana, the $10,000 award is presented with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and the Rangeland Resources Committee.
The finalists are:
* Goggins Ranch of Ennis in Madison County: Goggins Ranch is two properties owned and managed by family members Pat Goggins, Janet Goggins Endecott, and Rachel Endecott. They’ve established a diversity of plant species along the riparian areas of two perennial streams to provide habitat for fish, aquatic and pollinator insect species, migratory birds, and wild game. They invest in water conservation practices that maximize forage production for their beef cattle and minimize waste of irrigation water.
* Kurt and PJ Myllymaki of Stanford in Judith Basin County: The Myllymakis use cover crops to graze their beef cattle and to improve soil health. Wind and water erosion are greatly reduced when soil is continuously covered with a living crop. Having the option to graze cover crops gives their native rangeland pastures more time to rest. Wildlife populations have increased in diversity and numbers with the improved wildlife habitat and winter cover that cover crops and healthy rangeland provide.
* Peterson Angus Ranch of Drummond in Granite County: Randy and Sue Peterson’s approach to land management prioritizes stewardship of soils, native grasslands, wetlands, forests, and other high quality wildlife habitat on their cattle ranch in the Flint Creek Valley. They employ rotational grazing to distribute livestock across their land. Known for its high-quality wildlife habitat, the Peterson Angus Ranch is part of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ reintroduction effort of the sharp-tailed grouse.
In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage, which he called “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.”
“These award finalists are examples of how Aldo Leopold’s land ethic is alive and well today. Their dedication to conservation shows how individuals can improve the health of the land while producing food and fiber,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation President and CEO.
“As the national sponsor for Sand County Foundation’s Leopold Conservation Award, American Farmland Trust celebrates the hard work and dedication of the Montana award finalists,” said John Piotti, AFT President and Chief Executive Officer. “At AFT we believe that conservation in agriculture requires a focus on the land, the practices and the people and this award recognizes the integral role of all three.”
‘Parents can choose’: Montana School Choice Bill Signed into Law
By Chris Woodward, The Center Square
Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed legislation aimed at enhancing educational opportunities for Montana families.
House Bill 203, sponsored by Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, standardizes open enrollment in Montana’s public schools. Now, parents cannot be denied by their home district if they want to send their children to another school.
“A child may be enrolled in and attend a school in a Montana school district that is outside of the child’s district of residence at the request of the child’s parent or guardian,” the bill reads.
Gianforte said in a statement that parents “deserve to have their voices heard and to be a part of their kids’ education, including by pursuing the education that best meets the needs of their son or daughter.”
“I’m proud House Bill 203 promotes parental choice within our public school system while ensuring taxpayer fairness in cases where parents decide to have a child attend public school outside their place of residence,” Bedey said.
The Helena-based Frontier Institute also applauded the legislation.
“Prior to the signing of HB 203, parents seeking to enroll their child in an out-of-district school faced a litany of barriers,” Frontier Institute Communications and Outreach Director Tanner Avery told The Center Square. “HB 203 represents an important step towards ensuring Montana parents can choose an education option that best fits the needs of their child.”
