skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Tribal Water Compact Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate

play audio
Play

Friday, May 27, 2016   

FLATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION, Mont. -- The water compact between the state of Montana and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes moved one step closer to reality on Thursday as U.S. Sen. Jon Tester introduced a bill to ratify the agreement.

If passed by Congress, it would resolve the tribes' longtime water-rights claims against the federal government, avoiding the threat of extended and costly litigation. Tester, D-Mont., said it also would obligate the feds to spend $2.3 billion and the state $55 million to take steps to make precious water supplies go further.

"It establishes noxious weed control, livestock fencing and irrigation ditches for local farmers and ranchers," Tester said, "and it makes critical investments in local drinking and wastewater infrastructure."

Opponents of the compact have said it gives too much power to the federal government and the tribes at the expense of private landowners and the state. Tribal chairman Vernon Finley disagreed, saying the hard-fought compact will provide the certainty necessary for everyone to move forward.

"The tribe has compromised an awful lot considering, according to the water laws, how much reach our water claim could be," he said. "What is really critical is that it's a resolution that was developed among Montanans, among neighbors, that has taken many years to develop."

The compact already is the subject of a lawsuit challenging parts of the deal, he said, because it failed to get a two-thirds majority in the Montana Legislature. Opponents say that could open the state up to significant liability.

The legislation is online at tester.senate.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021