Articles written by Mara Silvers


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  • Republican majority in House passes bills restricting abortion, transgender rights

    Mara Silvers, Montana Free Press|Jan 28, 2021
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    HELENA — In a tense and emotionally charged floor session, the Montana House on Monday passed four bills seeking to curtail abortion access and two that restrict the rights of transgender youth and athletes. In the matters of reproductive health care, the bills passed along party lines, 67-33. Only a handful of Republicans sided with Democrats in opposition to the proposals concerning transgender people. House Bills 136, 140, 171 and 167 are the first of many anticipated proposals attempting to chip away at the legal right to receive an a...

  • HB 113 narrowly fails final House vote

    Mara Silvers, Montana Free Press|Jan 28, 2021

    HELENA — One day after House Bill 113 survived intense debate and a major vote on the House floor, the proposal failed to clear a procedural vote Tuesday after five Republicans reversed their stances, making the final vote count 49 in favor, 51 opposed. Advocates for transgender rights hailed the change as a significant win. “The trans and nonbinary community is strong and so are our families, friends and supporters,” said SK Rossi, one of the lead lobbyists opposing the bill on behalf of the cities of Missoula and Bozeman. HB 113, which would...

  • How Montana's 2020 census became "an uphill climb while it's hailing basketballs"

    Mara Silvers, Montana Free Press|May 28, 2020

    HELENA - Since February, Tylyn Newcomb has been losing sleep over a seemingly herculean task: how to ensure the government counts as many Montana residents as possible for the 2020 census, and, in doing so, generate fair federal funding and electoral representation for the next decade. "I mean, it's vital work," said Newcomb, one of the lead staffers focused on census outreach and grant funding for the Montana Nonprofit Association. "And so we don't have the option to just give up and say it's...