The Blog at MSPC

As electricity demand accelerates across the West, maintaining Montana's competitive advantage will require continued investment in both energy production and the infrastructure needed to deliver it.

Montana has become one of America's economic success stories, but a new study released today by the Mountain States Policy Center argues the Treasure State risks falling behind unless it continues reforming its tax code.

Every year, millions of Americans make one of the biggest decisions of their lives: whether to stay where they are or move somewhere they believe offers greater opportunity. They aren’t just choosing a new home. They’re choosing a different set of public policies.

Montana's prudent fiscal management and tax reforms to improve economic competitiveness have positioned the state well.

Montana policymakers have pursued one of the nation's most ambitious state-level housing reform agendas. Even with those efforts, it will take time to mitigate the growing tension between economic growth and housing attainability.

Over the past decade, individual income tax collections increased from $1.06 billion in Fiscal Year 2014 to $2.24 billion in Fiscal Year 2024. That's an increase of more than 111 percent.

Government officials should strive to maximize voter participation on important issues, and requiring tax increases to be considered at a primary or general election does just that.

Hospital price transparency is not political; it’s the only fair, compassionate, and honest way to operate our healthcare system.

Data centers have the potential to be an economic boon to the regions in which they are built, along with laying the groundwork for advances in medicine, national defense, and other research. Slowing data center development must be done based on local context, including the consumption levels of the data center and regional water availability.

Prevention measures such as forest thinning, prescribed burns, fuels reduction projects, and infrastructure hardening receive far less attention than suppression measures, even though they can reduce the severity and cost of future fires.

For Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming – the 2025 rankings reinforce the idea that fiscal conservatism is no longer simply a political slogan in the region, but a defining component of economic strategy and regional identity. It’s also a reminder for Washington of the important fiscal reforms needed.

The rule rescission brings common sense back to federal land management while also protecting the livelihoods of thousands who responsibly make a living on our shared inheritance.

Civic participation in the United States has been weakening for years, and rural states like Montana and Wyoming feel those effects more intensely.

Those states that prioritize fiscal discipline and a low regulatory and tax burden are doing well. The opposite is true if a state fails to keep its fiscal and regulatory house in order.

Public trust erodes when voters believe democratic decisions are only respected when they align with elite opinion.

In states where every dollar and opportunity matters, such as Wyoming and Montana, improving transparency could be just as important as expanding access, ensuring that students who attend college truly benefit from it.

The hits keep coming for Washington state’s poor fiscal management. The latest comes in the form of the recent credit ratings. At the same time, Idaho and Montana continue to receive high praise on credit reports for their fiscally conservative budget practices.

A temporary gas tax suspension is not a radical proposal. It’s a pragmatic one. It acknowledges that while we argue about the future of energy, people still have to live in the present.

Montana could continue to improve its economic outlook by building on its impressive income tax reforms by moving to a flat income tax rate.

Our republic needs to continue to support the importance and power of the states, and the Electoral College is a prime pillar of that ideal.