Season 2: The new landscape

Big Sky Lede

New laws. New governor. New administration.

November 2020 had major implications for Montana. Voters put Republicans into every statewide office, the governor’s chair and in expanded margins in the Legislature.

For the last four months, the Montana State News Bureau documented the bills lawmakers passed that will mean dramatic changes for Montana. Now, we’re reporting on the execution of those new laws.

On this season of Big Sky Lede, we’ll dive into the new landscape.

The list of changes Montana’s about to go through is long:

• There’s the framework lawmakers set up to spend billions in federal coronavirus aid that will unfurl over the summer.
• We have more restrictive voting laws, passed with support of the new Republican Secretary of State.
• The bill to pass a recreational marijuana program seemed like a herculean lift, but now the real work starts with putting the provisions in place.
• There’s still debate over changes to hunting laws affecting outfitters' businesses.

And that’s just the start of a slew of new laws that’s facing the state.

Our team will explain all the changes Montana’s going through as a result of the legislative session.

We’ll track the litigation over some of the more contentious new laws. And we’ll also keep following the unprecedented GOP-led investigation into the judicial branch that’s left the state Supreme Court and Republican lawmakers at loggerheads

We’ll also have an eye on the new administration and how it puts its stamp on state government, from the policies and programs it advances to seeing if their new tax cuts are able to boost the state’s economy.

We’ll share our reporting on the stories that chronicle a changing Montana, from interview with the governing and the governed, our team’s breakdown of the details and insights that go beyond the headlines and more.

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