This week on "Campaign Beat," gun control: Montana's trickiest political issue? How lack of money is forcing some candidates out in both the House and Senate races, Senator Daines' criticism of UM over the Mike Adams controversy, and the Billings Gazette tete-a-tete with former Wisconsin sheriff David Clark. Listen in now.

In the wake of the Florida school shooting, we’re taking a look at reactions and statements on guns from Montana's politicians and candidates for elected office.

There are currently more than 1,300 unfilled jobs in Montana executive branch agencies. It’s still unclear exactly how many of those positions are being kept open as a result of the state’s budget shortfall. The budget state lawmakers passed last year authorizes more than 13,000 employees in administrative agencies like the state departments of health, corrections and transportation.

We’ve been reporting a lot on the budget cuts Governor Steve Bullock’s administration has been making as a result of a more than $200 million state budget shortfall . The cuts are the result of bills passed in the regular and special legislative sessions in 2017. Since then political leaders on both sides of the aisle have been distancing themselves from some of the impacts of those decisions.

This week on "Campaign Beat" we cover candidate hairdos via a new Republican anti-Tester ad; talk about the moderate/progressive split on display at the Missoula Democratic House candidates forum; look at Governor Bullock's ongoing flirtation with running for POTUS; and discus Senate candidates James and Sarah Dean's odd disappearing act.

In a year when news of railroad crashes and train derailments from around the country have jumped into headlines, new data show railroad accidents in Montana are declining at a faster pace than most of the Northwest region.

The five Democrats running to be their party’s candidate in the race for Montana’s U.S. House seat had a chance to do something a little different in Missoula last night.

State lawmakers are considering dissolving the state workers compensation system, or turning it into a private entity. A public workers compensation insurance fund is written into Montana’s constitution.

State lawmakers say a bill written in the fast-paced special legislative session in November to help patch the state budget shortfall has errors and needs fixing. During the haste of the special legislative session, a bill that allows the state to sell 54 more liquor licenses didn’t turn out exactly how some people thought it would.

A U.S. Senate committee heard bills from both of Montana’s senators today. One would add wilderness protection to about 79,000 acres of land here, the other would remove Wilderness Study Area designation for around half a million acres.