Congress

 Today, Western Congressman Ryan Zinke voted in favor of H.R. 8998 - the House Department of Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act . The bill passed the House by a vote of 210-205, this is the fifth appropriations bill to pass the House floor for fiscal year 2025.  Zinke is a member of the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies subcommittee and took a leading role in crafting the funding bill.

Today, the House Appropriations Committee passed the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2025 out of Full Committee Markup. The bill includes more than $20 million in funding for Western Montana infrastructure projects and legislative language to fix a loophole in rental housing assistance grants that has cost Montanans millions. The next step for the bill is a vote on the House floor which is scheduled for the last week of July.

Today, Congressman Ryan Zinke (MT-01), U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), and Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02) sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation Camille Touton calling for the authorization of federal funds to replace the St. Mary’s siphons that failed on June 17, 2024. 

Today, Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke (MT) and Democrat Congressman Don Beyer (VA) introduced The Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced the companion bill in the Senate. Zinke made the announcement at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation headquarters in Missoula, MT, where he was joined by representatives from Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Boone and Crocket Club, Mule Deer Foundation and the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association. In 2018, Secretary Zinke signed Secretarial Order 3362 “Improving Habitat Quality in Western Big-Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors” which committed federal and state agencies to collaborate and ensure the health and longevity of big game migration corridors and identify critical wintering habitat.

Today the Biden Administration announced that the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has launched the Columbia River Task Force to implement Biden’s long promised plan to remove dams on the Snake River system that supply western Montana with affordable and reliable electricity. These dams provide between 60-70% of the electricity in the Pacific Northwest. Hydropower is the most abundant, affordable, and cleanest source of energy available in Montana, heavily relied upon for baseload power.