Gianforte Petitions to Block Montana Property Tax Lawsuit

Almost a year after its passage, the Montana GOP fight is intensifying over Gov. Greg Gianforte’s property tax legislation package — a signature policy effort to reduce property taxes for primary residences and long-term rentals, in part by raising rates on others.

The governor’s office on Monday petitioned the Montana Supreme Court to take up a case filed in state District Court in Bozeman in January by a group of Republican lawmakers who voted against the property tax bills during the 2025 session.

If the higher court assumes jurisdiction of the lawsuit, Gianforte said, the court could answer the legal questions about the constitutionality of Senate Bill 542, one bill central to the administration’s property tax effort. Among other questions, Gianforte’s office asked the court to affirm that SB 542 met the constitutional requirement that legislation be limited to a single subject properly aligned with a bill’s title.  

Montana has Money for a Parenting Program at the Prison, but it’s not Operating Yet

After losing federal funding, the Department of Corrections hasn’t restarted a parenting program that state lawmakers put $120,000 toward earlier this year. The program had served roughly 160 fathers and 400 children during the program’s four-year tenure. By Zeke Lloyd

Frederick Maw VI was 14 months old when his father, Freddie J, received a 20-year sentence to Montana State Prison in 2018. Caterina Maw, Little Freddie’s grandmother, remembers driving alongside a “trembling and scared” child on a bus to a small red cabin in 2022 during her grandson’s first trip to meet his father. 

“He saw the swing set and he saw all the dads standing there with smiles on their faces — then he just got this huge smile and ran to his dad to give him a hug,” Caterina Maw said in a recent interview.

The pair reunited through a Montana Department of Corrections initiative called Connecting Adults and Minors through Positive Parenting, a multi-part program that included a three-month parenting course for incarcerated parents. Parents also were able to see their children in person and have dedicated video calls.