Government News & Events

Here are a few reasons I think entrepreneurs aren’t interested in running for office, but I’d like to hear your feedback.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer, D-Mont., sits down with Morning Joe to discuss how he has managed to create a state surplus of over $402 million for Montana.

Governor Brian Schweitzer today announced that Montana remains in a strong fiscal position having over $400 million in cash in various accounts that can be used for general government and fighting fires.

“The good news is that they work well on large-scale commodity purchases such as electricity and road salt,” he says. The bad news is that in smaller markets, states have to work hard at recruiting, training and retaining vendors to participate in the auctions if states want to see significant savings.

The Montana Accountability Project attracted more than 1,000 suggestions that included placing sensors in state buildings to turn lights off, switching to a four-day workweek for state employees, abolishing the death sentence and reducing the cost of appeals.

Politicians since Warren Harding have been vowing to “run government like a business,” usually with less success than advertised.

“We received over 1,000 cost savings ideas from people across Montana,” said Governor Schweitzer. “Montanans know that just like businesses have to streamline in tough economic times, so does state government. We will continue to be accountable for every dollar and I thank everyone who took the time to submit their idea.”

Our data shows that federally employed IT managers and staffers out-earn their private sector counterparts by about 10%.

A bipartisan group tasked with drawing the political boundaries that are used to determine representation in the state Legislature will hold a series of public hearings across the state in April.

The main meeting sessions will be held at the Performing Arts Center in the Whitefish Middle School located in downtown Whitefish.