Montana State University TechLink  assures that federal programs for research  and development are not at risk of federal cost cutting. In a recent statement they stated, “we want to reassure our clients that the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are not only operational but continue to thrive.”

Federal agencies have active solicitations or are preparing to announce new opportunities, they reported. The Department of Defense remains a source of support for innovative ventures. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is actively engaging small businesses in cutting-edge research and development projects. Likewise, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) continues to fund health-related innovations.

Moreover, NASA’s Ignite SBIR initiative is gearing up to propel small businesses into new realms of aerospace technology and research. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) websites state plans to roll out solicitations this summer that promise to support sustainability and agricultural advancements.

For entrepreneurs and small businesses navigating these uncertain times, the message is clear: the SBIR and STTR programs are very much “open for business.” These programs represent ongoing opportunities to transform innovative ideas into reality, with substantial backing from federal agencies committed to fostering scientific and technological innovation.

By Brett Rowland

The Center Square

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration released its latest report on drug threats, highlighting progress in the fight against fentanyl, a powerful opioid responsible for most overdose deaths.

Even so, fentanyl remains at the top of the DEA threat assessment. 

“Mexican cartels’ production, trafficking, and distribution of powerful illicit synthetic drugs, chiefly fentanyl and methamphetamine, represent a dire threat to public health, the rule of law, and national security in the United States,” the report said. “The Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartels (CJNG), together with their procurement, distribution, and financial support networks stretching across Latin America, China, and other key global nodes, remain the dominant threats for the trafficking of these and other drugs into the United States.”

The move away from plant-based drugs to synthetics has helped the cartels rake in even-more cash. Cartels maintain steady supply chains for precursor chemicals, primarily from China and India, needed to produce these synthetic drugs.

In the 12 months ending in October 2024, the United States recorded 52,385 overdose deaths from synthetic opioids – a 33% decline – while overall overdose deaths, from any drug, declined about 26%, according to the most recent available CDC provisional data. Provisional data from the CDC showed that 74,702 of the 107,543 total drug overdose deaths in 2023 involved synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl. That’s about 69% of all overdose deaths in the U.S.

The DEA seized about 29% less fentanyl in 2024 compared to the prior year. In 2024, DEA seized 21,936 pounds of fentanyl. The agency also seized 61.1 million fake pills in 2024, a 24% decrease from the previous year. Data from the El Paso Intelligence Center’s National Seizure System – which consolidates drug seizure data from federal, state, and local agencies throughout the United States – indicated a similar trend, with 23,256 total kilograms seized in 2024, down from the previous year.

Fentanyl purity also fell last year, according to DEA testing. In 2024, the average fentanyl pill contained 1.94 milligrams of fentanyl, ranging from a low of 1.58 mg to a high of 2.18 mg. Based on these analyses, DEA forensic laboratory results found that about 5 out of 10 fake pills contain 2mg or more of fentanyl. The average purity of fentanyl powder samples was 11.36%, ranging from exhibits that contained almost no fentanyl (0.07%) to 82% purity.

“Fentanyl purity declined throughout 2024, consistent with indicators that many Mexico-based fentanyl cooks are having difficulty obtaining some key precursor chemicals,” the report noted. “DEA reporting indicates that some China-based chemical suppliers are wary of supplying controlled precursors to its international customers, demonstrating an awareness on their part that the government of China is controlling more fentanyl precursors to comply with recent updates to the United Nations counter-narcotics treaty.”

That doesn’t mean fentanyl is any safer. 

“The downward trend in fentanyl purity does not mean that street-level fentanyl is less dangerous,” according to the report. “Drug dealers in the United States continue to adulterate fentanyl with various animal tranquilizers (such as xylazine), anesthetics (such as ketamine), and other synthetic opioids (such as nitazenes).”

DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy said the report shows progress.

“This year’s report indicates progress in the fight against fentanyl and also outlines the increasing challenges we face with the changing landscape of the synthetic drug crisis,” he said. “The adulterating of fentanyl with highly potent, dangerous chemicals reminds us that this fight is far from over.”

By Casey Harper

The Center Square

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is cracking down on states’ use of taxpayer dollars allotted to Medicaid to pay for unauthorized treatments for noncitizens.

The federal government allocates billions of dollars each year to states to help pay for Medicaid, healthcare for lower income Americans, one of the federal government’s largest expenditures. States are generally allowed to use Medicaid to cover emergency and lifesaving treatment for illegal immigrants, but CMS said it is cracking down on the practice of states using federal dollars to cover treatments not authorized under Medicaid for noncitizens.

CMS said that states are “pushing the boundaries” of what can be covered under Medicaid, at taxpayer expense.  

“Medicaid is not, and cannot be, a backdoor pathway to subsidize open borders,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “States have a duty to uphold the law and protect taxpayer funds. We are putting them on notice – CMS will not allow federal dollars to be diverted to cover those who are not lawfully eligible.”

Democrats have denied the allegation that some states, generally Democrat-led, use Medicaid dollars for illegal immigrants. Republicans insist they use loopholes or don’t check immigration status as a way to circumvent federal rules. They argue that free healthcare of this kind is what helps motivate the influx of illegal immigrants into the U.S. 

“Medicaid funds must serve American citizens in need and those legally entitled to benefits,” said CMS Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services Drew Snyder. “If states cannot or will not comply, CMS will step in.”

CMS sent a letter to the states this week warning them of the ratcheting up on controls and that the federal government could demand back any federal dollars improperly spent on noncitizens.

“To ensure that federal money is not used to pay for or subsidize healthcare for individuals with an unsatisfactory immigration status in a manner contrary to federal law, CMS is ramping up financial oversight activities of state claiming in this area, to the extent consistent with applicable law,” the letter said. “Activities are expected to include focused reviews of Medicaid expenditures reported by states on the quarterly CMS-64 and in-depth financial management reviews.”

By Bethany Blankley

The Center Square

In the first four months of 2025, illegal border crossing encounters and apprehensions reported nationwide totaled 168,390, an 83% drop from the number reported during the same time period last year.

Under the Biden administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 993,035 illegal border crosser encounters/apprehensions from January through April 2024.

More than 29,000 were reported in April and in March of this year, record lows by comparison to those months under the Biden administration, according to the latest CBP data.

In the first four months of 2023, 958,569 illegal border crosser encounters were reported; in 2022, 889,899 were.

April’s 29,238 encounters were 88% fewer than the 247,929 reported in April 2024; nearly 90% less than the 276,036 reported in April 2023 and the 274,992 reported in April 2022, according to the data.

The reason for the dramatic drop is due to the Trump administration enforcing federal immigration law, eliminating Biden administration programs, and “for the first time in years, more agents are back in the field – patrolling territories that CBP didn’t have the bandwidth or manpower to oversee just six months ago,” Acting CBP Commissioner Pete Flores said. “Thanks to this administration’s dramatic shift in security posture at our border, we are now seeing operational control becoming a reality – and it’s only just beginning.”

Fiscal year to date, from Oct. 1, 2024, through April 30, there were 560,618 illegal border crosser encounters reported nationwide, according to the data. The majority were reported under the Biden administration, stretching into most of January. The numbers began to drop off in February. In Trump’s first full three months in office, the numbers hovered between 28,624 and 29,238, according to the data.

After the Trump administration ended the Biden administration “catch and release” policy, the number of illegal border crossers released into the U.S. dropped to nearly zero.

“Only five illegal aliens were temporarily allowed into the U.S. in April for U.S. special interest court cases – a staggering drop from the roughly 68,000 released along the southwest border during the same month last year,” CBP said.

CBP is also categorizing apprehensions slightly differently, referring to apprehensions and encounters at ports of entry as “at entry” and those in the interior as “at large.”

Of April’s 29,238 encounters and apprehensions reported, 8,383 occurred at the southwest border, including 906 that remain at large. Southwest border apprehensions represent a 93% drop from the 128,895 apprehensions reported last April, according to the data.

Last April, there were an average 4,297 apprehensions a day; last month there was an average of 279, according to the data.

As under the Biden administration, the majority apprehended were single adults, followed by single adults claiming to be in a family unit, unaccompanied minors and accompanied minors.

In the last four years, the greatest number of single adults encountered and apprehended totaled more than one million in 2023. The greatest number of unaccompanied minor illegal border crossers reported nationwide totaled nearly 153,000 in 2022.

The number represents a reversal of more than 14 million illegal border crossers reported under the Biden administration, including two million who evaded capture, The Center Square reported.

With median home prices exceeding $1 million in many U.S. housing markets, some real estate professionals are drawing attention to a 28-year-old capital gains tax law, citing it as one factor contributing to the nationwide housing shortage.

Ken DeLeon, founder of DeLeon Realty in Palo Alto, told The Epoch Times that some communities have experienced skyrocketing home price. In some cases they have jumped 667 percent on average since 1997.

“This outdated capital gains law has resulted in an artificially-created housing shortage,” DeLeon said. “A lot of older people who have lived in their homes for 30 years or more want to sell, but the value of those homes has tripled or quadrupled now. Some of these sellers could now be facing capital gains taxes of over $1 million.”

According to a HUD report, the median cost of a single-family home in 1997 was $143,000, compared with $414,000 in April 2025, as reported by the National Association of Realtors.

With the combined federal and state capital gains tax rate now at 37.1 percent in California, potential sellers seeking to avoid elevated tax exposure are choosing instead to remain in their current properties.

As a result, DeLeon said inventory levels have reached historic lows and sellers are stuck in a tax trap.

DeLeon contends that the economic ripple effects of the almost three-decade-old tax formula is causing not only fewer home sales, but less revenue from transfer taxes, reset property taxes, and local economic activity.

“We have older people who may have bought their home 30 years ago for less than $100,000 and now they’re worth $4 million,” she said. “They may want to downsize and move, but they can’t afford to pay all those capital gains taxes.”

The hefty tax makes it difficult to buy their next home for cash which they most likely want to do.

It’s a situation that is pushing our country further into a housing market where only large, wealthy corporations can purchase the increasingly rare single-family home.

A bipartisan effort to resolve the issue is already underway in Congress. Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), along with many others, in February reintroduced the More Homes on the Market Act to make housing more available and affordable for Americans.

The legislation would update the tax code by doubling the exclusion of capital gains from the sale of a principal residence. For single sellers, the exemption would move to $500,000 and for couples, to $1 million. The bill is designed to incentivize homeowners to sell their properties, thereby increasing the supply of housing and helping to alleviate affordability challenges across the country.

The US Treasury recently announced it will stop making the penny. Producing one penny cost almost four cents, costing the US Mint $85 million a year. This isn’t the first time this has been considered by Congress. The Cato Institute said that the penny should have been jettisoned long ago, but previous efforts in Congress failed in part because a special interest benefits from its continuance.

The penny was originally made of copper, now it’s made of zinc and it has been the lobbying efforts of zinc producers that has kept Congress from acting.

They say the nickel too should be eliminated – or the government should let the private sector make those coins if they want. It costs the government 13.8 cents for every nickel it makes. It costs 5.8 cents to make a dime and 14.7 cents to make a quarter.

Another interesting trend is that transactions done with cash are becoming less and less. Last year cash transactions of less than $25 declined by 16 percent.

In opening remarks before the Montana Public Service Commission on the first day of the hearing on NorthWestern Energy’s request for a regulatory rate review, Sarah Norcott, Director of Regulatory Corporate Counsel for NorthWestern explained how the company’s investments benefit customers—both now and in the long term.

“We understand that any increase in utility bills is difficult, especially when families are already managing rising costs in other areas,” Norcott said. “That’s why we’ve worked hard to keep the impact as low as possible while still making the critical investments needed to keep the lights on and the heat flowing.”

Norcott said that although NorthWestern invested more than $800 million in its electric system over the past two years, the electric settlement results in a 1.7% revenue increase, below the originally proposed 8.3%. For the average residential customer, this translates to a 4.2% increase in their electric rate.

“NorthWestern accomplished this feat by making prudent decisions, managing costs, and always keeping our customers’ needs at the center of our planning,” she said.

Norcott detailed how those investments strengthen Montana’s energy infrastructure:

* $158 million in electric transmission infrastructure, including substation rebuilds and wildfire mitigation.

* $197 million in electric distribution infrastructure, supporting wildfire mitigation and customer growth.

* $390 million in electric generation, including upgrades to hydro facilities and the construction of the Yellowstone County Generating Station (YCGS).

“These aren’t abstract numbers,” Norcott said. “They represent real improvements that help prevent outages, reduce wildfire risk, and ensure we can meet demand during Montana’s coldest nights and hottest days.”

She also emphasized that the YCGS project will ultimately reduce costs for customers.

“Customers will see a benefit overall in their net rates due to YCGS over the long term,” she said.

“Who is NorthWestern?” Norcott asked. “We are the people who show up—because we live here too.”

She shared an example. One cold evening this year in Anaconda, 71-year-old Derinda Johnson slipped on her icy sidewalk while taking out the trash. Alone and unable to get up, she waved desperately for help. It was Tom Wind, NorthWestern’s Anaconda Town Manager, who noticed her while driving home. He turned around, rushed to her side, and helped her safely back into her home.

“According to Derinda, he saved her life,” Norcott said. “This story personifies NorthWestern and what we are about.”

“While there is a lot of noise and opinions about the decisions NorthWestern makes, we take our responsibility seriously to keep the lights on and the heat flowing,” Norcott said. “The evidence in this case will show that the decisions NorthWestern has made over the last two years were prudent and comply with Montana law. What I ask is that you hear the evidence, you remember the reasons NorthWestern made these decisions – to provide safe, reliable and affordable utility services.”

It’s time to replace MetraPark’s digital advertising sign at 6th Avenue. “The controller is shot,” reported staff in seeking the county commissioners’ pre-authorization to begin the process sooner rather than later due to the length of time it will take to pursue the process. It was planned to begin the process in September but there is much initial work that could begin sooner, said MetraPark’s Assistant Manager Tim Goodridge.

The project is included in MetraPark’s budget for next year.

Goodridge said that the electronics for the sign must be updated. They have received a quote for $187,000 to bring the technology up to date, a process that will create a larger and sharper display area.

Discussion on Wednesday with the Commissioners yielded ideas for other improvements which, if cost effective, could result in generating more revenue from the sign and result in an entirely new sign.  Goodridge agreed it would be a good idea to issue a request for proposal that would include a second alternative which could push the cost up to $250,000, but would be worthwhile if it generated more revenue. He commented that the sign has been a great marketing tool.

Erick Garcia Luna, Director, Regional Outreach

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

“…the industry’s reliance on imported materials, such as Canadian lumber, has some firms thinking twice before submitting request for proposals.”

“Following years of fast-rising prices and wages, pressures were less acute and becoming more manageable.”

“Forty-four percent of survey-takers experienced price hikes greater than 5 percent, compared with 68 and 54 percent in the spring of 2023 and 2024, respectively.”

“On the labor side, the share of firms that reported wage increases dropped 10 percent relative to last spring.”

It is common for construction projects in the region to slow down as temperatures drop in winter months. But this season, construction firms experienced slower activity than expected.

From late April through mid-May, we surveyed leaders at 252 construction firms from across the Fed’s Ninth District, (which includes Montana) who shared their recent experiences and outlook for the sector.

Overall, decision-makers at construction firms entered 2025 with optimism, but for many, expectations shifted as lingering pressures from the rising costs of recent years were compounded by rising uncertainty.

More than half of firms reported decreased activity in the six months ending in April 2025, twice the share of those who reported improvements.

Respondents said that some clients had kept projects on hold because they anticipated lower interest rates and prices to stabilize further in 2025. As a result, companies pulled already-scheduled projects forward—which was good for clients but reduced backlogs at a time of slowing activity.

Many companies hoped that flattening costs and lower interest rates would stimulate new construction activity and replenish backlogs. Instead, growing uncertainty from trade policy has contributed to further project delays and cancellations.

Trade policy has also complicated basic operations for construction firms. For example, the industry’s reliance on imported materials, such as Canadian lumber, has some firms thinking twice before submitting request for proposals. “Bidding is hard when we are unsure of what products will cost in 6 to 12 months because of tariffs,” stated a Minnesota company involved in commercial and residential projects.

Respondents reported some modest improvements. Following years of fast-rising prices and wages, pressures were less acute and becoming more manageable.

While input prices paid in recent months have continued to rise, increases were less steep. Forty-four percent of survey-takers experienced price hikes greater than 5 percent, compared with 68 and 54 percent in the spring of 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Still, notable exceptions and recently added pressures pushed up on costs and squeezed margins.

Some firms noted that steel and concrete prices have continued to rise at a faster pace. A Minnesota commercial builder said that recent price increases for most of their inputs ranged between 6 and 13 percent, adding that some vendors had also been including tariff surcharges on some products.

On the labor side, the share of firms that reported wage increases dropped 10 percent relative to last spring. Eighty percent of firms indicated rising wages for trade workers, while 75 percent reported wage increases for all other workers.

Nearly half of respondents anticipated conditions will worsen for the industry in the coming months. For the majority, expectations had taken a turn since the start of the year (Figure 2). “The end of the year and into February were quite strong, but has since changed significantly due to tariffs, higher interest rates and fears of more inflation,” shared a respondent from an architectural firm.

The top concern among those surveyed was the impact of government policies and regulations, including tariffs. “Economic uncertainty leads to less investment which leads to less development,” remarked a respondent from an engineering firm.

Respondents also observed reductions in both public and private projects available for bidding and expected competition to intensify as a result.

“Fewer projects means more competition,” shared a South Dakota commercial builder. “More competition puts downward pressure on fees so we’re left with making too little money with costs staying too high.”

While overall labor demand was lower than in the spring of 2024, the majority of firms were hiring—43 percent were looking for full-time workers. The industry has grappled with pervasive talent shortages across occupations, and the challenges to recruit skilled workers are even more acute.

Combined, these challenges and added ambiguity have led to a gloomier outlook than earlier in the year. “Reduced backlogs, less new project enquiries and lower revenues have drastically slashed my projections for 2025,” shared a leader from a south Minnesota firm.

The underlying hope of many was that more clarity would restore confidence and reverse the course of dimming activity. “We need certainty,” an industrial builder in South Dakota said, “We simply need to know what to expect.”