A policy to continue Medicaid expansion in Montana has passed its first vote in the state Legislature. The bill includes what some are labeling as work requirements for so-called able-bodied adults enrolled in the program. The House Human Services committee voted 11-8 Tuesday evening to approve a heavily amended House Bill 658 , carried by Republican Rep. Ed Buttrey.

Montana’s senior Senator says Americans deserve to see special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation report to make up their own minds. While Mueller’s report found President Donald Trump’s campaign did not collude with the Russian government, Attorney General Bill Barr made headlines asserting there isn’t sufficient evidence Trump obstructed justice.

Advocates for missing and murdered indigenous women will walk the length of the Flathead Reservation starting Thursday, March 28. It’s the third year of the walk and this time it’s in honor of Jermain Charlo, who’s been missing for more than nine months.

HELENA -- The Montana House of Representatives advanced a bill 84-16 Tuesday that would give an income tax credit to film production companies. Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, voted for House Bill 293 . He said tapping into the film industry would only benefit Montana and the state has to incentivize filmmakers.

A state-funded preschool program is on a fast track in the state Legislature. The policy introduced today is starting to reveal a rare clash between the state’s largest union and Gov. Steve Bullock. The policy outlining voluntary preschool and the creation of a new state department of early childhood is carried by Rep. Eric Moore, a Republican from the Miles City area.

Four-term Democratic State Representative Jean Price of Great Falls has died. Price died Monday morning of pancreatic cancer.

Montana got a failing grade from a national environmental study group Thursday for its lack of policies addressing lead in public schools. The second edition of Environment America’s "Get the Lead Out" report, says Montana also received an "F" last time the organization surveyed a number of states, in 2017.

The Republican plan to continue Medicaid expansion will result in half of the 96,000 people currently enrolled in the program losing health coverage. That’s according to an analysis released this afternoon by Governor Steve Bullock’s office.

Tonight on Capitol Talk : The state's utility regulators endorse a bill that appears to weaken the their own regulatory oversight. The cost of Medicaid expansion — and a new revenue estimate — complicate the state budget outlook. The president of the Senate wants to be the top election official. And the mayor of Helena wants to run for governor or Congress, but he's not ready to say if he'll run as a Democrat or Republican.

A rewritten Republican plan aimed at protecting the future of the coal-fired power plant in Colstrip is moving forward. But concerns remain about its potential impact on Montanans’ electric bills. When the so-called Montana Energy Security Act of 2019 was first introduced it drew comparisons to the deregulation of the Montana Power Company in the late 1990s, which skyrocketed electric bills across the state.