As of Saturday, January 30, 2021, Montana reports 93,762 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 490 new cases reported in the last day: 116 in Yellowstone County, 61 in Flathead County, 42 in Gallatin County, 42 in Missoula County, 37 in Ravalli County, 32 new cases in Lewis & Clark County, and more new cases in 31 more Montana counties. The number of active coronavirus cases in Montana is 3,708. Statewide, 4,246 people have been hospitalized. Currently, 101 people are being treated in Montana hospitals for COVID-19. The most active cases are in Yellowstone, Flathead, Cascade, and Gallatin Counties. 1,232 people have died in Montana of COVID-19. Five more deaths have been reported since yesterday. Nationwide, more than 439,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. There have been 26,100,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, and counting.

Montana is reinstating a week-long waiting period for new unemployment claims starting Sunday. Any claims filed next week will be subject to a non-payable one-week waiting period. The change marks a return to how claims and payments worked before the pandemic. The waiting period does not mean people lose a week of benefits; rather, the first payment is delayed a week. It also does not change the maximum benefit a person can receive. Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, the federal government provided 100% of the funding for states to pay for the first week of benefits. That provision of the CARES Act has been removed, leading the state to propose an administrative rule in December to revert back to pre-pandemic practices. The waiting period only applies to new claims, not existing ones.

Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the country are moving swiftly to attack some of the voting methods that fueled the highest turnout for a presidential election in 50 years. Although most legislative sessions are just getting underway, the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute, has already tallied more than 100 bills in 28 states meant to restrict voting access. More than a third of those proposals are aimed at limiting mail voting, while other bills seek to strengthen voter ID requirements and registration processes, as well as allow for more aggressive means to remove people from voter rolls. “Unfortunately, we are seeing some politicians who want to manipulate the rules of the game so that some people can participate and some can’t,” said Myrna Pérez, director of the voting rights and elections program at the Brennan Center. In last year’s presidential election, nearly 70% of all ballots cast nationwide came before Election Day, with an estimated 108 million people voting through the mail, early in-person or by dropping off absentee ballots. The surge came after states expanded access to mail voting and early voting, with a few states sending absentee ballots to all registered voters in response to the coronavirus pandemic that raised safety questions about large crowds at the polls.