Hometown Helena Thursday, March 6th: Legislative Transmittal Press Update

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Hometown Helena this Thursday, March 6th: Legislative Transmittal Press Update

March 4, 2025


Hey y’all!


It’s girl power week: Emily will be our hostess, with Ann Waickman will serve as our panel moderator. Our fearless leader Jim Smith will be out of town visiting his wife’s family. Over the holiday season, she lost her brother, Bill Bailey, who by all accounts was a wonderful man. Please keep them in your hearts this week.


Last meeting, we were joined by Charlie McKay from Aspen Adult Services, who gave an impassioned plea about the recent threats to the services they provide to people in our community with disabilities. Organizations like Aspen keep our disabled neighbors in the workforce, and their funding is affected every year by both state and federal policy.


We also had a shiny metal guest that kind of stole the show. I’m truly sorry if any of you missed it, because it made me laugh and applaud hysterically. The Fusion 4133 Robotics team is a Hometown favorite since they visited us years ago in the Montana Club. If you’d like to support their efforts, please donate to their trip to compete at Worlds in Houston this April.


We have representatives joining us this Thursday from our local news outlets that have been tirelessly covering every moment of the 2025 legislative session. Now that we’ve hit transmittal (the deadline for legislators to approve and pass bills to the next chamber), we know a bit more about what the political landscape will look like for the next 45ish days. Not to call out Eric “Question Boy” Dietrich, but when we first met, he took most of my calls from the basement of the Capitol in between his assignments covering the session. Folks like him and his colleagues work late nights following stories that change at breakneck speed. It’s not for the faint of heart. We’re well-informed here in the Queen City, and it’s all due to our excellent local journalists.


I hope you join us this Thursday, whether in person (courtesy of our wonderful hosts at Helena College) or online via Zoom (courtesy of Pinion Global and Aja Rail, our gal in cyberspace).


Haley McKnight

March 13

  • The Montana Club


March 20

  • New Healthcare Leaders

    • Lisa Kelley, BCBS

    • Pureview


March 27

  • Childcare Update

    • Exploration Works

    • DPHHS

    • Zero to Five

    • MT Chamber of Commerce

April 3

  • COVID-19 Five Years Later


April 10

  • School District Levy and Bond Plans

  • Healthcare for Schools


April 24

  • National Archery Tournament

  • Growing Up Helena


May 1

  • Small Biz Panel

    • Stonetree Climbing Center

    • Lasso the Moon Wonderful Toys

    • Leslie’s Hallmark

    • Sage & Oats Trading Post

Announcement period is from 7:00 to 7:15.

Please limit announcements and comments to 2 minutes.

Hometown Helena - Thursday, March 6th, 7 a.m. @ Helena College & Live via ZOOM hosted by Pinion:

  • Blair Miller, Lee Enterprises

  • Holly Michels, Montana Free Press

  • Online Meeting Instructions: Please keep your phone or microphone muted during the meeting and note that your camera may be on depending on your ZOOM settings. Please "raise your hand" at the start of the meeting if you will have an opening update or introduction.


  • In-Person Announcements: Please plan on approaching the front of the room to make announcements directly to our host so online attendees can hear. There is time at the beginning of the meeting for announcements. Please limit announcements and comments to 2 minutes.


  • View Program Recording: Hometown Helena is recorded and posted at HometownHelena.news, typically within a day.


  • Hometown Email List: This private email list is not shared. You can join or update your email information at HometownHelena.news or by clicking the button below.

The Hometown Helena Team is Jim Smith, Rick Hays, Kelly Cresswell, Emily McVey, Tom McGree, Peter Strauss, Ann Waickman, Haley McKnight and Matt Elsaesser

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