HELENA — The Montana Legislature’s biggest task every two years is setting the state budget. Next week, the Montana House is set to tackle the main budget bill.
House Bill 2 lays out more than $8 billion in spending for each of the next two years, for a total of $16.6 billion. That includes roughly $5.1 billion from the state general fund, with the rest coming from other state revenue sources and from federal funds.
Since the start of the legislative session in January, lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee have been working extensively on HB 2. They were separated into subcommittees that each focused on one section of the budget, including general government, health and human services, natural resources and transportation, public safety and education. Those subcommittees then made recommendations to the full committee.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Appropriations Committee spent more than 12 hours going through HB 2 section by section and considering possible amendments. Once they got through all five sections, they advanced the amended bill for consideration by the full House.
(Watch the video for a closer look at House Bill 2.)
Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, chairs the Appropriations Committee. He said the budget in HB 2 is set to grow about 4% year to year.
“It's slightly smaller than what the governor proposed – both in all funds and then general fund, since I look at both – and it certainly has legislative fingerprints on it,” he said.
Jones said some of the changes lawmakers have made so far on the bill include adding more funding for state mental health beds and restoring funding for the “1-2-Free” dual enrollment program for high schoolers.
Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, is the top Democrat on Appropriations. She said there’s been a lot of work done already, but she believes more is still needed.
“I would say House Bill 2 is in okay shape, but not in good shape,” she said.
Caferro said there were significant changes to HB 2 in Appropriations, especially in health and human services. She said they were able to do more in services for children and people with disabilities, but that she still saw some big gaps, especially in senior and long-term care. She also said it remains difficult to judge HB 2 because of the many other bills that could still impact the budget – particularly tax proposals that she believes could threaten the structural balance.
“That's why we can't give a 100% ringing endorsement to House Bill 2 until all things are taken into consideration,” said Caferro.
Democrats hold ten more seats in the House than in 2023, and Caferro credited that for what she said felt like a more collaborative appropriations process than last session.
Because of the size of HB 2, it takes several days for staff to get the bill ready for each new step. The House is expected to debate HB 2 in an all-day floor session next Wednesday. Lawmakers will again go through section by section and talk about possible amendments.
Jones said he believes the bill is coming out of Appropriations in good shape. He argued the budget growth remains responsible.
“For some there will be arguments it's not big enough and for others it'll be too big,” he said.
Jones pointed to a Pew Charitable Trusts report from last year that said Montana was the only state in the country that didn’t end any of the last 15 years with a budget deficit.
“I would like us to stay there,” he said.
Once the House approves HB 2, it will go over to the Senate. It’s possible the Senate could simply approve the bill as it is in the House – but in recent sessions, senators have almost always made their own changes and sent it back to the House to hammer out the differences.
“While the amendments might not go on the bill, I would be shocked if there's not a lot of amendments proposed,” said Jones.
