City Desk
- Details
- Category: City Desk
Click on the image above for the audio.
PNS - Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - Trump threatens to use emergency powers to bypass Courts and deploy troops; SCOTUS to hear case targeting Colorado's conversion therapy ban; NC BREATHE develops 'road map' to better environmental health; Groups help NYS Hispanic, Latino community with end-of-life planning.
- Details
- Category: City Desk
Click on the image above for the audio.
PNS - Sunday, October 5, 2025 - House Democrats are reassuring their constituents about the reasons for the shutdown. Federal workers are concerned about being in the middle of the partisan fight and what happens now that the Farm Bill has expired?
- Details
- Category: City Desk
Click on the image above for the audio.
PNS - Monday, October 6, 2025 - Newsom says he'll sue to keep Trump from sending California National Guard to Portland; Nonpartisan federal workers swept up in political feud; Rural libraries in ID struggle under state's book banning law; groups push for revamp of trade deal to protect jobs in PA.
- Details
- Category: City Desk
Big Sky Connections
Across political lines, polling shows Montanans see today’s economy as especially tough on families with young children, and they broadly support programs that help them get by. (Adobe Stock)
By Trimmel Gomes
A new poll reveals most Montana voters across the political spectrum agree families with young children need more support from the government, not less.
The research from the nonpartisan firm PerryUndem comes as the state begins to grapple with the effects of the federal tax cut and spending bill, which became law in July and includes reductions to programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
Erin Switalski, senior program director for the Headwaters Foundation, said the research cuts through polarized narratives to show what Montanans truly think. She noted a disconnect between political debates and the realities families face.
"You know, we really saw – no matter what political party people were identifying with – they understood that times were really hard for families right now," Switalski pointed out. "People really felt like there was a role for government in supporting families."
In the poll, 65% of Montanans said they oppose the reductions to safety net programs in the bill, with more than 80% concerned about rural hospital closures and children losing health coverage as a result.
Michael Perry, whose firm conducted the poll and focus groups, said despite political differences, they consistently found common ground when the conversation shifted to local communities and children's needs.
"When you move it back to your community – families, children, what they need to thrive right now, the kind of challenges that they're facing, kind of help that they need – then you've come back to this place of common ground, of agreement that families need a lot of help right now and children need a lot of help right now," Perry outlined. "We should be doing more and not less."
Among Montanans polled, 77% believe it should be easier for families to enroll in assistance programs, citing complex paperwork and short re-enrollment periods as major barriers. Key issues for families include the high cost of child care and housing, with broad bipartisan support for programs like CHIP, Head Start, Medicaid and WIC.
