Government News & Events

The nation’s public health laboratories are woefully unprepared to handle chemical weapons agents such as sarin or mustard gas that could be used in a terrorist attack, according to a 50-state survey released yesterday. By…

The Montana Department of Revenue and Martz administration agreed Wednesday to pull the plug on its costly, trouble-plagued integrated tax-tracking computer software system. By CHARLES S. JOHNSON Gazette State Bureau Director Kurt Alme told the…

The Montana Natural Resource Information System (NRIS) http://nris.state.mt.us today announced its web site usage in January 2003 set an all-time record for the program. The site received nearly 1.3 million hits during more than 59,000…

New enhancements to the state’s legislative Web site will now make it even easier for people to find information about Montana’s lawmakers and their actions online. By ALLISON FARRELL, IR State Bureau The new, printer-friendly…

Todd Capser, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Technology Foundation in Billings, has been named the new state director for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. By TOM HOWARD Of The Gazette Staff Capser, a former aide…

A Grim Fiscal Forecast for States Survey Predicts Continuing Crisis and Pressure to Raise Taxes By Dale Russakoff Washington Post Staff Writer The fiscal crisis now shaking state and local governments appears likely to grow…

Under the law, every regulatory agency must establish a Web site to collect and post public comments on every rule it considers. For example, if the Federal Aviation Administration were considering a new rule about air travel, members of the public would be able to comment on the rule by e-mail messages and to read comments from others. (Is this something we should consider for each Montana State legislative committee so that the public can comment on proposed legislation?- Russ)

Sen. Duane Grimes, a Clancy Republican and advocate of the system, hopes it will improve the Legislature’s public image.
"It will allow Montanans to see what fellow Montanans do here as citizen legislators," he said. "The Legislature will be more highly regarded when they see what we do on a day-to-day basis." (This is great but is there an easier way to communicate with our legislators using e-mail?- Russ)

A key legislative committee told the Martz administration Wednesday it should pull the plug on remnants of a problem-plagued and undependable computer system that has cost the state $37 million and still doesn’t work properly….

(Interesting observations about the difficulty of developing state-wide technology initiatives- Russ)