Category: Opinion
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Op-Ed: Supreme Court Considers Tax Case of the Century
By Olivia Johnston, Mountain States Policy Center Is the U.S. Supreme Court posed to slam the door shut on efforts by some to impose wealth taxes across the country? We may soon find out. Multiple states, Idaho and Montana included, along with over 25 organizations have filed amicus briefs in favor of a Washington state…
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Is Montana’s Open Enrollment Policy ‘Good Enough’?
By Trish Schreiber School choice is essential for improving educational outcomes for students, and open enrollment is a significant part of that choice spectrum. While Montana has made strides in this area, it lags behind neighbors like Colorado, Idaho, and Utah, all of which boast more expansive open enrollment policies and flourishing charter school sectors. …
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Main Street Needs Senator Daines’ Tax Cut
By Ronda Wiggers, Montana State Director for National Federation of Independent Business Montana Main Street businesses, farmers and entrepreneurs have endured a lot the last three years. More than 90% of Montana’s businesses are considered ‘small,’ employing less than 50 people. These small businesses have faced uncertainty, supply problems, and struggled to find enough employees.…
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Montana—Cool for Coolidge!
By Lawrence Reed One hundred years ago—on August 2, 1923—President Warren G. Harding died suddenly while on a trip to America’s West (which included a stop in Butte, by the way). A few hours later, while vacationing at his family’s farm in Plymouth, Vermont, Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as President by his…
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Analysis: New Home Builders Shift Focus
By Victor Skinner, The Center Square Rising interest rates and construction costs, along with demand for more affordable options, pushed new home builders to shift focus in 2022, according to recent analysis. Microdata from the Survey of Construction 2022 analyzed by Zillow illustrates a shift from primarily single-family home construction before and during the pandemic…
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Montana Home School Heroes
By Lawrence Reed, Director of Frontier Institute “On this important question, the verdict is in and it is definitive: The one ingredient that makes the most difference in educational outcomes is parental involvement.” Of all the ingredients in the recipe for educating children, which one has the greatest potential to improve student outcomes? Teacher unions would put…
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Colstrip is Changing – – Not Closing
By Jim Atchison As the Executive Director of Southeastern Montana Development (SEMDC), I wanted to state that in my opinion, Colstrip is Changing – – – Not Closing! At least if Common Sense had a vote. As an economic development professional serving a regional non-profit economic development group consisting of the four-counties of Custer, Powder…
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The facts are — without action, reliable energy service in Montana is at risk
By John Hines, NorthWestern Energy Vice President, Supply/Montana Government Affairs The facts don’t lie. Rhetoric disputing those facts doesn’t add up. That fact is NorthWestern Energy doesn’t have enough 24/7, on-demand generation to serve our Montana customers reliably during critical weather in an affordable manner. The fact is NorthWestern Energy is responsible for providing reliable,…
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Montana History on the Frontier Entrepreneur
By Lawrence Reed “His name was John Bozeman. His short life is a tale of frontier entrepreneurship.” One of the most interesting exports from the state of Georgia to Montana was the namesake for the Treasure State’s fourth largest city. His name was John Bozeman. His short life is a tale of frontier entrepreneurship. Born…
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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…