Montana
Medicaid expansion bills spur hours of testimony in first hearings
Two Montana lawmakers, one Republican and one Democratic, advocated Wednesday for their strategies to continue Medicaid expansion, while another Republican pitched his plan to end the state’s program. The bill hearings triggered hours of testimony from supporters of the low-income health coverage plan, scheduled to sunset this year unless extended by legislators.
People who wanted to speak before lawmakers about the three bills packed committee rooms, spurring nearly five hours of hearings that stretched until 7:30 p.m. The fate of Medicaid expansion is anticipated to be one of the most hotly debated policies in the 90-day legislative session.
“Medicaid expansion has been transformative,” said Gene Small, president of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, one of dozens of proponents who appealed to lawmakers to continue the program. “Moving forward with this legislation is the moral choice for the most vulnerable among us.”
Medicaid, a decades-old public health program created by Congress, was expanded to adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level under the Affordable Care Act, an option that 41 states decided to adopt. A bipartisan group of Montana lawmakers voted to extend coverage to that population in 2015 under the Health and Economic Livelihood Partnership (HELP) Act. State legislators agreed to renew the law in 2019.
The cost of the expanded program, used by more than 76,000 Montana adults as of October, is almost entirely covered by the federal government. The upfront cost to the state’s coffers was roughly $100 million in the last fiscal year.
As the program has grown in size and expense, so too has opposition among a coalition of Republican lawmakers, driving a wedge in the GOP caucus. Original estimates forecasted that roughly 45,000 people would be enrolled by 2019.
Two Republican-sponsored bills heard Wednesday would create dramatically different paths for the future of the program. The GOP holds wide majorities in both the House and Senate, but it’s unclear how party members will respond to Medicaid expansion proposals that reach the floor. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte has indicated support for the program continuing in some form.
House Bill 245, sponsored by Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, would strike the termination date from the HELP Act and adjust the work requirements that lawmakers passed in 2019. Those requirements were later blocked by the Biden administration and never took effect.
Buttrey, who successfully sponsored Medicaid expansion in prior sessions by building a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans, told lawmakers on the House Human Services Committee Wednesday that continuing the program was essential for uplifting people struggling to make ends meet and for Montana’s broader business landscape.
“If as legislators we choose to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the physical and mental needs of our low-income population in Montana, to ignore the addiction issues that we have and ignore the value of a healthy and unaddicted workforce, we will pay for it down the road,” Buttrey said. “And we’ll pay a heck of a lot more than we’re paying now.”
Buttrey, who appeared on the verge of tears while reflecting on the policy’s history, also stressed the overall impact Medicaid expansion has had on Montana’s economic landscape and state budget.
“We’ve created a system that, unlike in other states, actually moves people out of poverty and onto their own success. Our system puts health care back in the doctor’s offices and out of the emergency rooms. Our system has enhanced the pool of workers available to our businesses,” Buttrey said. “All of this while providing positive savings to our General Fund and to the taxpayers of Montana.”
Buttrey’s bill received support from more than 60 people, testifying in person and online. Many drove across the state to speak in favor of Buttrey’s proposal, stressing its importance to rural and tribal communities. None spoke in opposition.
A very different Republican proposal, introduced by Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, was heard at the same time in a committee room down the hallway of the state Capitol.
Glimm’s bill, Senate Bill 62, would phase out the Medicaid expansion program beginning later this year. The measure directs the state health department to stop accepting new enrollees beginning Sept. 1.
“People that don’t qualify anymore will start to work themselves off and eventually we would not have anybody on Medicaid expansion,” Glimm told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee.
Glimm, in arguing to end expansion, cited concerns that the federal government could change its contributions to Medicaid, leaving Montana on the hook for more than the 10% of the program it currently pays for. Glimm also argued that Medicaid expansion unjustly subsidizes health coverage for unemployed people who don’t have disabilities.
“This is a financial choice that the state of Montana needs to make,” Glimm said in his prepared remarks. “We need to look at the risks and the benefits and we need to say that able-bodied working adults should be working.”
No proponents spoke in favor of the legislation. Fourteen opponents spoke against the bill, most of whom were representatives of health care coalitions, nonprofit organizations and tribal health groups.
“Medicaid expansion has strengthened the foundation of our health care system, invested in a healthier and more productive workforce and created stronger, more vibrant communities,” said Tylyn Newcomb, community engagement director at the Montana Nonprofit Association.
The governor’s budget office issued a fiscal note for Glimm’s proposal projecting a loss of more than $1.5 billion in federal funds and a cost of more than $800 million to the state General Fund over the next two years if officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declined to continue the current match rate. Glimm told lawmakers he was contesting that calculation, arguing the federal government would continue shouldering 90% of coverage costs for the remaining beneficiaries until the program ends.
The third bill heard Wednesday, House Bill 230, sponsored by Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, would also strike the HELP Act’s termination date and aim to eliminate access hurdles for enrollees. The bill would provide 12 months of continuous eligibility for beneficiaries. It would also strike the HELP Act’s work requirement provision, which Caferro argued are unnecessary.
Caferro’s legislation also proposes reopening 10 Offices of Public Assistance in rural parts of the state, many of which closed after state budget cuts in 2017. Her bill would also seek to improve communication between enrollees and the state health department by allowing text messages and email communication and creating an advisory board for beneficiaries.
Caferro described the bill to members of the House Human Services Committee as a measure to make the existing program more efficient, particularly after tens of thousands of people lost Medicaid coverage during the state’s mass eligibility review in 2023 and 2024.
“It takes opportunities to solve problems, creates efficiencies in government … creates accountability in government through public reporting requirements, and transparency in government through a public advisory committee,” Caferro said. “It makes government work for the people.”
About 30 proponents of the bill, many of whom also spoke in favor of Buttrey’s legislation, said it would shore up services for rural residents struggling to navigate a dense web of state bureaucracy, sometimes facing paperwork delays that push back health care services for months.
All three bills must be supported by a majority of lawmakers on each committee in order to advance to the House and Senate floors. Lawmakers did not vote on the legislation Wednesday night.
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A restraining order has been issued that blocks the Montana Republican Party from enacting new bylaws intended to drive nonconformists…
A restraining order has been issued that blocks the Montana Republican Party from enacting new bylaws intended to drive nonconformists out of the party ranks.
Lewis and Clark County District Judge Michael F. McMahon issued the restraining order Wednesday morning. The order had been requested by county precinct committees and officers suing the state party organization over the new bylaws. The plaintiffs are the Yellowstone County Republican Central Committee, the Choteau County Republican Central Committee, and individual committee members Jeff Essmann, Ted Kronebusch, James Wilson and state Rep. Brad Barker, R-Red Lodge.
At issue are bylaws passed during MTGOP’s June platform convention that the litigating party members say amount to “fraudulent and corrupt practices.” The new bylaws require members to pay $20 in annual membership dues and pledge a loyalty oath, and subject members to removal from elected party positions for nonpayment of dues or for “conduct deemed inconsistent with party purposes,” as determined by executive party party officers. The new bylaws allow charges for removal to be brought by any 20 official Republican Party members.
Montana Republican Party Chairman Art Wittich, the only official spokesperson for the state party, has not responded to voicemails and texts sent to his cell phone Wednesday. Wittich, elected party chairman in June 2025, has long been emphatic about exposing “Democrats disguised as Republicans” — for Wittich a now decade-old battle that spun into a bitter multimillion-dollar war between party hardliners and relative centrists in this spring’s Republican legislative primaries.
The centrists drew the ire of the hardliners in 2025 by collaborating with Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte and legislative Democrats to pass a balanced state budget and key pieces of legislation, including increased taxes on second homes and property tax reductions for primary residences and small businesses.
What constitutes disqualifying conduct isn’t fully spelled out in the bylaws, but they do specify that “collaborating with Democrats” in the Legislature, the governor’s office, the courts, or elections can get members disciplined or removed.
The lawsuit alleges that “The 2026 bylaws empower a small group within the party to revoke Republican affiliation from candidates or office holders, undoing primary nominations by the electorate.”
The plaintiffs argue that Montana voters, not party bylaws, should determine who represents the Republican Party in general elections and who represents voting precincts on the publicly elected county-level Republican committees that coordinate local political activity.
The Montana Legislature in 2019 passed a bill protecting publicly elected party precinct committee officers from being arbitrarily removed from office and defined attempts to do so as “fraudulent and corrupt practices.” That law, sparked by Republican Party infighting 10 years ago, is the foundation of the current lawsuit.
There has been a surge of public interest in Republican precinct-level politics following a perceived lack of support by party hardliners for Republican candidates in conservative strongholds like Flathead County, where more than 60 new precinct committeemen and committeewomen were elected in June. That wave of new officers was preceded by Flathead County Republican Central Committee members considering an endorsement of Libertarian Sid Daoud for Kalispell mayor over Republican Kisa Davison in late 2025. The Kalispell mayor’s race is nonpartisan, but Republicans have gone to court to secure the party’s right to endorse candidates in nonpartisan races.
Wittich’s own campaign for precinct committeeman representing Whitefish was a casualty of that new wave of public interest. He lost to Republican Giuseppe “G-man” Caltabiano, who serves on the Whitefish City Council.
Caltabiano’s wife, Roxanne Ross, defeated Candace Wittich, wife of the Republican chair, in the same election.
State law gives precinct officers two-year terms and specifies that they can be removed only for death, written resignation or loss of residency. The new bylaws state that participation in party governance, including service as a precinct official, “is a privilege of association, not a right conferred by public office or candidacy. Members must act in good faith to support the Party’s purpose and must not engage in conduct materially inconsistent with the Party’s interests, including conduct that undermines its platform, policy positions, election operations, or internal governance.”
The recent changes to the party bylaws allow precinct officeholders to be suspended from voting in party matters and replaced by party leadership for noncompliance. Empty precinct seats can be filled by the Republican Party chair.
“Every Republican candidate sells their version of Republicanism to the people in a primary campaign, and the voter chooses which version to buy,” the lawsuit states. “The party cannot dictate what brands of Republicanism are on the market.”
Former MTGOP chair Jeff Essmann, a plaintiff who is also a long-serving precinct officer, said in his affidavit that members of the Republican State Central Committee weren’t given a required notification about attempts to amend the bylaws. He said he would have attended the platform convention and argued against amending the bylaws if he had known.
“The 2026 Bylaws empower any twenty members of the Party to recommend any other member of the Party for expulsion from the party, to be determined by the State Central Committee, even people who do not reside in Yellowstone County and who have never met me,” Essmann said in the affidavit.
Other central committee members produced pre-convention emails about potential changes to the bylaws, but no details about the amendments.
In issuing the order, McMahon indicated that Republicans challenging the bylaws are likely to succeed. He set a July 13 hearing on whether to make the order permanent.
“Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims that the challenged provisions are inconsistent with Montana election law and constitutional protections governing candidacy, nomination, speech, association, due process, and elected precinct committee representatives,” McMahon ruled.
___
This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
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The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 8, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 8 drawing
12-29-37-43-55, Powerball: 18, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from July 8 drawing
17-26-31-32-37, Star Ball: 01, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 8 drawing
03-13-16-17, Bonus: 10
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from July 8 drawing
06-27-33-44-69, Powerball: 23
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from July 8 drawing
08-16-17-22-27
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 8 drawing
16-18-43-48-50, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
HELENA, Mont — Gov. Greg Gianforte is backing a new effort to keep data centers from driving up Montanans’ power bills.
This week, Gianforte announced Montana is signing on to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge — an initiative endorsed by President Trump.
Several major technology companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and XAI first signed the pledge back in March.
The pledge comes as data center development continues to grow — raising questions about how much new energy will be needed and who will pay for it.
NBC Montana spoke with Julia Haggerty, professor of geography and department head of earth sciences at Montana State University, about whether Montana’s power grid is ready for that growth.
“Not without resolution of significant transmission bottlenecks and massive amounts of new generation. So, while our grid is adequately, relatively adequately equipped to serve the needs of our current load base, it’s definitely not equipped to accommodate the new demands without a lot of expansion,” she said.
According to the pledge, data center developers will pay for new power generation, and infrastructure needed to support their operations.
“It does align with ongoing regulatory efforts to ensure that the cost of new generation associated with data centers is borne by the developers of those data centers and not customers,” Haggerty said.
The governor’s office says Gianforte’s support of the pledge is designed to encourage responsible data center investments while protecting Montana ratepayers from long-term costs.
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