Missoula, MT — The Montana state budget bill, HB 2, is moving quickly through the legislative process after receiving approval from the House. On Monday afternoon, the House passed the $16 billion budget bill with a 58-41 final vote. By the end of the day, it was formally introduced in the Senate, where the Senate Finance and Claims Committee wasted no time in reviewing it.
Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, chair of the committee, indicated that the review process would progress rapidly. “We are going to move through it fairly rapidly,” he said. “We’ve all been working on it for a couple months now.” The committee convened for a two-hour hearing on the bill Tuesday morning, with plans for a full debate scheduled for Friday.
HB 2 outlines over $16 billion in state spending over the next two years, with roughly $5 billion coming from the state’s general fund. The bill includes key provisions for funding various state programs, but some legislators, particularly conservative Republicans, have expressed concerns about the size of the budget.
Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, has indicated that conservative Republicans in the Senate are likely to propose amendments to trim the budget. However, Regier noted that these amendments are expected to be presented on the Senate floor rather than in committee. “Throughout the session, we haven’t had the votes to be fiscally restraining in Finance and Claims,” Regier explained. “The House did a lot of amendments that failed that were good ideas, that I think we should try over here in the Senate and see if there’s an appetite to kind of right-side the budget.”
On the other side of the aisle, Senate Democrats are focused on preserving the successful amendments made in the House, including funding for Medicaid reimbursement and human services programs. Sen. Laura Smith, D-Helena, emphasized the importance of ensuring that Democratic priorities are included in the final budget. “You put incredible effort and achieved some really exceptional results in HB 2. Our goal is to preserve that, and then ensure that we’ve got Democrat priorities – that if there’s some that got left on the cutting room floor over in the House side, to make sure that we’re advocating to get those back in,” she said.
The state budget is one of the Montana Legislature’s most crucial tasks during its 90-day session, and it is the only one required by law. However, the passage of HB 2 alone will not resolve all fiscal matters. Lawmakers must also address tax relief measures, such as those targeting property and income taxes. These issues will need to be coordinated with the final budget, creating a complex task for legislators in the coming weeks.
Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, acknowledged the challenges ahead, stating, “The next three weeks, we got to figure out how to bring all that together. It’s tough.” The Senate is expected to debate HB 2 on the floor next week, and if any amendments are made, the bill will need to return to the House by April 23, the 80th day of the legislative session, in order to keep moving forward.
With just a few weeks remaining in the session, the Montana Legislature is quickly approaching its deadline to finalize the state budget and tax relief measures, setting the stage for a busy final stretch.
