Sorted by date Results 1 - 20 of 20
Some readers, especially those with Scandinavian heritage, may be familiar with the stories of Sven and Ole. I grew up hearing them from my late grandfather. One story comes to mind in the context of our current political climate. Sven and Ole, were two farmers with neighboring farms who had always been very competitive. Ole's father had always been a Ford man, and the bigger the better, especially the F-350s. So, of course, Ole grew up as a Ford man, too! Sven's father had always been a Chevy...
There's always something special about the early days of a new year. Optimism. Opportunity for change and making things better. It's how I felt growing up in Montana at the beginning of a new sports season. Whatever disappointments or mistakes might have happened the previous season, a new season was like starting a new chapter, where hard work, dedication, and teamwork can make anything possible. 2023 is like the previous season and much needs to be done to make things better. In 2023, our...
Sidney – Republican Congressional candidate, Joel Krautter, kicked off his campaign to serve as central and eastern Montana's next representative in the state's 2nd Congressional District with friends and supporters at the renovated Sidney Yellowstone Mercantile, Nov. 28. "America is not the best we can be right now. Our country is plagued by growing debt and a sense of discouragement in the future. I offer Montanans a new generation of leadership in the U.S. Congress, focused on striving for s...
The law firm of Netzer, Krautter & Brown, P.C. is pleased to announce that Ryan Alexander Payne has joined the firm's Sidney office as an associate attorney. Ryan Payne attended the University of South Carolina, where he received a degree in political science. Payne earned his law degree and an MBA degree from the University of Montana. During graduate school he focused on corporate, transactional, bankruptcy and aviation matters. He also studied comparative law and Mandarin in Shanghai, China....
Three local associations are hosting an informational meeting to learn about the Biden Administration's 30 x 30 program and how it may impact landowners in northeastern Montana. The meeting takes place at 6 p.m., June 2 at Richland County Events Center and the public is invited. On Jan. 27, 2021, the President signed an executive order entitled "Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad," (E.O. 14008) which included a provision directing the conservation of 30% of America's lands and...
Dear Editor: Last week, Brad Tschida, a legislator from Missoula wrote a letter to the editor criticizing me. There is a reason why Tschida is attacking me: I disagree with Tschida on many issues. While I normally ignore baseless attacks, because of the current COVID-19 situation I am limited in the personal conversations I would be able to have during a regular campaign season and I want you to know the truth. Tschida voted against a bill to prohibit sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants in Montana; I voted to prohibit sanctuary cities in...
The commencement of election season has brought a rash of fake news being written by right-wing extremists, borrowing a play from the radical left, and spread on social media about my voting record. The distortions concern pro-life issues and my vote this past session for the Medicaid Reform and Integrity Act (MRIA) that our Sidney Health Center asked me to support. It’s disappointing to see politically motivated misrepresentations, but I’m glad to highlight my pro-life work, set the record straight, and help people be better able to ide...
Representative Joel Krautter, running for re-election to Montana House District 35, is welcoming new candidate Brandon Ler, who has also filed for the seat to the race. “I know Brandon is a good family man and I look forward to discussing the issues that are important to Richland County voters in the coming months. An exchange of ideas is healthy for the electoral process,” said Krautter. Krautter sent a letter to Ler welcoming him to the race and also called for a clean campaign, inviting Ler to sign the Code of Fair Campaign Practices tha...
The legislature has finished its work after 87 days. The session was filled with many long days at the Capitol but we saw many legislative breakthroughs that will benefit our district and all of Montana. The driving force behind these victories was the Conservative Solutions Caucus. The Conservative Solutions Caucus is made up of fellow Republicans from all across Montana who believe, like I do, that our constituents expect us to go to Helena to solve problems and work to find solutions and govern, not just vote “no” and go home and point fin...
The past week saw the legislature send several pieces of major legislation, representing this session's major policy debates, to the Governor's desk for approval. The legislature gave final approval to Representative Buttrey's Medicaid Reform and Integrity Act (HB 658) after the House approved Senate amendments that: added income verification, removed the worker's compensation premium tax, and added a 2025 sunset date to the program. A fixed sunset date is extremely important for managing a...
The past two weeks have been some of the biggest weeks in the House during the session. Contentious bills we took up in the House included Representative Buttrey’s Medicaid Reform and Integrity Act, as well as the Infrastructure Bonding Bill. I supported Representative Buttrey’s bill because I believe in the reforms it makes to the Medicaid law set to expire in June without reauthorization. The resolution from the Sidney Health Center Board of Trustees asking me to support continuation of the...
The 2015 Montana legislature passed the Medicaid Expansion program in Montana, providing healthcare coverage to low income and disabled individuals. Importantly this act included work/training programs, premiums, as well as a 4 year expiration “sunset” date to allow the legislature to review the data and consider whether to leave the program unchanged, make reforms or discontinue it. Initially the Federal government paid for 100 percent of the program, tapering down to 90 percent by 2020. The program is set to sunset in June of 2019, unl...
It’s often said that Montana is like a small town with long streets. Montanans may be separated by hundreds of miles but it’s amazing how many mutual friends you find you have after talking with someone for five minutes in this giant small town. A defining characteristic of small towns is that people care about one another and rally together in challenging times. Chances are you’ve attended at least a few community benefits to raise money for medical bills or to help a family that had some other misfortune strike. Today, our giant small town...
The first weeks of the legislature were filled with many clean-up bills, often passing with between 70 and 100 percent support. Now the House Floor debates are getting more spirited and the decisions to vote yea or nay are a little more difficult to make on complicated issues. I passed my first legislation out of the House, 83-16. HB 50 dealt with commodity dealers and warehouses. This week I presented it to the Senate Agriculture Committee. One highlight of my week was introducing HB 405, the Catch and Keep Montana’s Treasure Act, along w...
After a slow but steady start, the legislative session is now getting busy as we finished week three. Another way I know things must be ramping up is by the rapidly increasing number of emails I’ve been getting the past few weeks. The high point this past week was the House passing HB159, the K-12 school inflationary increase funding bill by a vote of 97-3. Republicans and Democrats agreed to make it a priority to get this education bill to the Governor’s desk early in the session to both avoid it being held until the end of session as a pol...
The first week of the legislative session in Helena got underway this past week. I was excited to be sworn-in, along with 30 other freshman House members and with family and friends present. While the session officially began on Monday, the unofficial start for me was the day before, as a bipartisan group of a dozen legislators and I gathered at the home of Chief Deputy Attorney General Jon Bennion to make sausage and visit. Senators Daines and Tester, along with Attorney General Fox each...
Budget problems, budget cuts and lower than expected revenue. Such has been the news from Helena this past year. The budget cuts even hit Sidney. The Office of Public Assistance closed, ending three jobs and Richland Opportunities Inc. suffered a 3% cut for state reimbursement, which will result in a loss of more than $60,000 for their care of developmentally disabled people. Our State Health and Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), which counsels hundreds of seniors annually regarding choosing...
On Wednesday night, March 7, I attended the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) meeting regarding the Yellowstone Disposal landfill, being proposed 4 miles southeast of Sidney and in close proximity to many family residences. During the Public Comment portion of the meeting I outlined my opposition to the project, in its proposed state, due to the many unanswered questions, the potential for harm it poses to our area and its location in relation to family residences. I said I didn't want...
Any responsible infrastructure plan requires careful thought and coalition building. A few weeks ago, Gov. Bullock floated his latest infrastructure balloon. His plan calls for a $200 million investment of cash and bonds to fund infrastructure needs, identified as water and wastewater systems, public schools and universities, roads and bridges. It would also create a Build Montana Trust, by dedicating 75 percent of the revenue coming in to the Coal Tax Severance Fund for future infrastructure investments. The Governor’s renewed focus on this is...
On Saturday, May 14th, as I was out campaigning, I received word that negative campaign mailers were arriving in mailboxes across Richland County attacking my opponent, Scott Staffanson. These mailers were sent out by a third-party group named “Montanans for Responsible Leadership” that I have never heard of before. They were very unfair to Mr. Staffanson. I wanted to take a minute to condemn in the strongest terms possible these negative, smear tactic and attack mailers by this group. For those of you who know me and who have been fol...
