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Montana bans TikTok, but implementing the law could be challenging

21May

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Montana bans TikTok, but implementing the law could be challenging

Montana has officially become the first state in the country to ban TikTok after Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law on Wednesday, May 17. The law is set to take effect in January 2024 and is already facing legal challenges."To protect Montanans' personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana," wrote Gianforte on Twitter.The ban was quickly criticized by the ACLU amid concerns that the bill infringes on First Amendment rights. "With this ban, Governor Gianforte and the Montana legislature have trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information, and run their small business in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment,...

MT’s only contested district court race shaped by statewide politics

There are a lot of peculiarities in this year’s race for district court judge in Cascade County.First, it is the only contested district court race in the state. Ten other district court judges will be elected this year without a challenger.Second, it’s perhaps the most tangible distillation of the state Legislature’s open attacks on the judicial branch last year. While GOP lawmakers antagonized the co-equal branch of government, they also succeeded in passing a new law on how judges reach the bench.David Grubich, the incumbent judge in the race, came to the bench through that new process. His challenger, Michele Levine, was the appointee left by the previous Democratic governor who Republicans rejected amid that newly heightened scrutiny. ...

Gianforte appoints affordable housing task force | 406 Politics

Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed a committee charged with tackling Montana’s housing crisis Thursday, asking the group to recommend steps the state can take to address affordability and availability.Gianforte signed an executive order Thursday creating the new Housing Advisory Council. The 26-member task force will meet for the first time next week with the directive of making recommendations to the state Legislature and state agencies to “increase the supply of affordable, attainable workforce housing.”“Owning a home is part of the American dream, but for more than a decade, it’s become harder and harder for Montanans to afford to own or rent a home,” Gianforte said in a statement, going on to call current regulations “burdensome.”The executive order also cites a shortage of...