On April 16th, 2019 Senior Montana Democratic Senator, Jon Tester, held a town hall meeting in the ballroom of the historic Baxter Hotel in downtown Bozeman to a standing room only crowd. After a brief report of his recent work, he took questions from the crowd, ranging from Immigration, Health Care, The Violence Against Women Act, with particular attention to missing and murdered Indigenous Women, Veteran Issues, particularly the high rate of suicides, Wildlife and Wildlands Protection, Climate Change and the Green New Deal, as well as extricating US Troops from Wars in the Middle East.

Tester’s bill, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, aims to increase access to capital by cutting red tape for community banks and credit unions, while protecting consumers against risky Wall Street bets. Tester took to the Senate floor today (watch video) to underscore the urgent need to provide community banks and credit unions with regulatory relief to prevent further bank consolidation in Montana.

According to Tester’s office, Montana has lost 23 chartered banks since 2008: “Many of these banks have consolidated and closed down as a result of the costs related to complying with regulations that were targeted to reign in the behavior of the nation’s largest financial institutions.”

An Associated Press fact check of Montana banking statistics was carried in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

From Senator Tester:

Record temperatures and a historic drought have turned Montana into a tinderbox. Dozens of wildfires have consumed more than 900,000 acres across our great state and the smoke has settled in a thick haze over many of our communities. We’ve tragically lost two brave firefighters and seen homes, farms, ranches, and businesses crumble before our eyes. This is the very definition of a natural disaster. So as Congress works to get resources to the folks devastated by Harvey, I hope we can also work to get Montana, and the rest of the West the resources we need to fight these fires.

Received from Senator Tester’s office, in response to our standing request to all MT representatives in Congress. Video is available here. Statements do not necessarily represent the position of KGVM.

U.S. Senator Jon Tester took to the Senate floor today to call on his colleagues to work in a transparent and bipartisan manner to bring down costs and improve access to health care. Tester highlighted some of the stories he’s heard from Montanans across the state about what’s at risk. (more…)

Senator Jon Tester addressed U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell during an Interior Appropriations Subcommittee hearing over the White House’s proposed cuts to wildfire suppression, road and trail maintenance, outdoor recreation, outfitter and guide permitting, and the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund. (more…)