Congress

(WASHINGTON, DC) Today, Congressman Ryan Zinke cosponsored H.R. 3170, the bipartisan Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder (HELPER) Act. The HELPER Act establishes a new home loan program under the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to make homeownership more accessible to K-12 school teachers, first responders, law enforcement officers, and other essential public servants by eliminating some of the barriers for first-time homebuyers including high down payments and monthly mortgage insurance premiums. 

Today Congressman Ryan Zinke announced he has cosponsored seven bills to protect four dams in the Columbia River System that supply power to Northwest Montana.

 Today, Congressman Ryan Zinke, U.S. Senator Steve Daines, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, and Congressman Matt Rosendale released the following statements after the Biden administration released a new Resource Management Plan Amendment prohibiting future coal leases in eastern Montana through 2038.

Montana Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke along with New Mexico Democrat Congressman Gabe Vasquez announced the introduction of the bipartisan Wildlife Corridors on Working Lands Act, a bill designed to amend the 2024 Farm Bill to direct the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide more resources and incentives for farmers and ranchers to increase habitat connectivity and wildlife movement on working lands. 

This week at a House Appropriations Transportation Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) Subcommittee hearing, Congressman Ryan Zinke grilled acting Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Adrianne Todman on the $4.5 million HUD diverted from the Montana Housing Authorities (MHA) reserves by the agency. The reserves are used for financial assistance for renters in Montana who are currently grappling with an extreme affordability and availability issue thanks to decades-high inflation and skyrocketing housing costs in Montana. 

Today in a House Appropriations Interior, Environment and Related Agencies subcommittee hearing, Congressman Ryan Zinke pressed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan on the Biden Administration targeting Montana’s primary source of energy, Colstrip, with new power plant rules signed on April 25, 2024. The rules include a blitz of regulations designed – in the words of EPA administrator Michael Regan – to force accelerated retirements of the coal fleet. 

Today, Congressman Ryan Zinke released the following statement in opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final Conservation and Landscape Health rule.