The 67th session of the Montana Legislature ended last week as lawmakers put the final touches on the state budget and plans to spend about $2 billion in federal covid aid.

Our bureau was there to cover it all, and on this episode they’ll explain how it all wrapped up in the last few days.

There was a late scramble by some Republicans to amend previously voted down policy into remaining bills. There was also a last-ditch effort to change a bipartisan broked deal on cannabis implementation that hung up lawmakers for hours on the final day of the session.

The 80-day term saw major efforts to overhaul the state’s hunting, wildlife management and public lands access landscape. And long-time voting access rules changed with backing from a GOP-majority Legislature and backing from the Secretary of State.

To wrap up, the team shares their takeaways from a session unlike any other, and not only because it was held in a pandemic.

This podcast from the Montana State News Bureau is created in partnership across five newsrooms – the Billings Gazette, the Helena Independent Republic, the Missoulian, the Montana Standard and the Ravalli-Republic. You can support this podcast and our efforts by subscribing. Visit any of these newspapers’ websites, and click on the Become a Member button at the top of the home page. We appreciate your support of local journalism.

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