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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

'Capitol Talk' Reviews This Week At The Montana Legislature

Chuck Johnson, Sally Mauk and Mike Dennison
Eliza Wiley

This week on Capitol Talk: Sally, Mike and Chuck look back at the week's events at the Montana Legislature, from the Flathead water compact, to dark money, to the death of the death penalty repeal.

The Senate passed the Flathead water compact by a comfortable margin after a lengthy and contentious debate.

A "dark money" campaign spending disclosure bill championed by Gov. Bullock and Republican Senator Duane Ankney passed the Senate this week.

Ankney argued for the bill saying, "what I don't believe in is a person's ability to come after me without me knowing who it is."

A bill to repeal the death penalty failed on 50 - 50 vote in the house. Mike Dennison notes, "we actually had ... 12 Republicans voting for the bill. If all the Democrats had held together and voted for it, it would have passed."

The Senate passed a bill to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would ask voters to approve the diversion of funds from the coal tax trust fund into infrastructure projects.

Coming up after the legislative break: more debate on Medicaid expansion, tax cuts, and the state budget. Stay tuned.

"Capitol Talk," our weekly legislative news and analysis program, appears on Fridays throughout the legislative session. MTPR's Sally Mauk is joined by Lee Newspapers reporters Chuck Johnson and Mike Dennison.

Tune in to "Capitol Talk" on your radio every Friday during the session at 6:35 p.m. and again on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

Retired in 2014 but still a presence at MTPR, Sally Mauk is a University of Kansas graduate and former wilderness ranger who has reported on everything from the Legislature to forest fires.
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