Montana

Montana Senate advances main state budget bill

Published

8 months ago

April 17, 2025

Montana Senate advances main state budget bill

HELENA — House Bill 2’s initial debate on the floor of the Montana House took almost a full day. Things went much faster on the Senate floor Thursday, where they wrapped up their debate on the main state budget bill after just under three hours.

The Senate gave initial approval to HB 2, on a 27-23 vote – with nine Republicans and all 18 Democrats voting to move it forward.

(Watch the video to see the changes lawmakers approved to HB 2.)

Montana Senate debates state budget

The bill includes roughly $16.6 billion in total spending over the next two years, with $5 billion from the state general fund. Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, who chairs the Senate Finance and Claims Committee, said the bill increased total spending by about 10% compared with the 2023 budget, and general fund spending by about 18%.

While the House went through each section of HB 2 in detail, the Senate generally gave only short overviews before moving on to debating amendments.

All together, senators considered 22 amendments Thursday. Most of them came from Republicans, led by Senate President Sen. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, who sought to cut back what they saw as excessive spending.

“We came in with a surplus – a very large surplus – and I think we’ve lost track of exactly where that surplus, which is now negative, sits,” Regier said.

But senators only approved four changes, three of them from Democrats. They took off an amendment added in Senate Finance and Claims that increased funding for community colleges, restored funding for the pretrial diversion program, and removed millions of dollars in funding that would have paid to hire contract nurses at the Montana State Hospital – redirecting some of that money to fund nurse positions through the state.

“This amendment reduces contract labor, supports the state continuing to do what we asked them to do and hire state nurses at the hospital, and it’s going to save $35 million to the general fund,” said Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula, who sponsored the amendment on MSH.

“If we’re concerned about the patients in the state hospital, you better not vote for this amendment, because they’re going to be left without nurses,” said Glimm, who opposed that change. “The reason that we haven’t hired state employee nurses is because we can’t get them. That’s why we’ve hired traveling nurses at a much higher rate.”

Jonathon Ambarian

On many of the amendments, the vote was 27-23, with Democrats on the same side with the group of nine Republicans who have frequently broken with their party this session. Eight of those nine were among the Republicans who voted to advance HB 2 at the end of the debate.

Supporters of the bill said it was a good product.

“I think it’s a good compromise budget,” Senate Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade. “I think it meets the needs of Montanans in a fair and meaningful way.”

But the Republicans who opposed the budget said it was irresponsible not to do more to cut spending.

“We’re passing everything under the sun,” Glimm said. “I imagine that the governor’s going to veto his way to a balanced budget, because he’ll have to. That’s a job that we’re supposed to do, but we aren’t doing it.”

The full Senate will need to vote one more time on HB 2 before sending it back to the House. If the House accepts the Senate’s changes, they can send the bill directly to the governor’s desk. If they don’t, the bill will need to go to a conference committee to hammer out the differences.

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Related Topics:Carl Glimm ellie boldman Featured House Bill 2 Matt Regier montana senate Pat Flowers state budget

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Montana

Montana-Montana State’s FCS semifinal get-in ticket prices surpass College Football Playoff games

Published

2 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Montana-Montana State’s FCS semifinal get-in ticket prices surpass College Football Playoff games

Montana-Montana State, known as the Brawl of the Wild, is one of the best rivalries in FCS. This year, more than bragging rights are on the line, as the matchup will take place in the FCS semifinals.

The high stakes and relatively smaller seating capacity have made this game the most expensive entry-level ticket in college football this weekend, including the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The cheapest ticket for the game at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana, is $675 on Gametime Tickets compared to about $350 for the Miami at Texas A&M game, which is the most expensive of the four first-round College Football Playoff matchups. The most expensive ticket for the FCS semifinal is a sideline seat priced at $1,152. The Miami-Texas A&M game has Founder Club tickets listed at $2,484.

The seating capacity for Bobcat Stadium is 20,767, compared to more than 102,000 at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. The other three CFP games this weekend will be hosted by Oklahoma (capacity 80,126), Ole Miss (64,038) and Oregon (60,000).

Next year’s Montana-Montana State matchup starts at $876, with some tickets listed as high as $1,359.

Montana State is the No. 2 seed in the playoffs at 12-2 after defeating Stephen F. Austin 44-28 in the quarterfinals this past weekend. Third-seeded Montana is 13-1 and beat South Dakota 52-22 in its quarterfinal. Montana leads the all-time rivalry 74-44-5.

Montana State has won the last two matchups between the teams, most recently winning 31-28 at Montana on Nov. 22. At least one of the teams has appeared in the FCS championship game in three of the past four years. Montana’s last national championship came in 2001, while Montana State’s came in 1984.

Montana is led by head coach Bobby Hauck, who is the second-winningest active FCS head coach and one of the top 10 winningest active coaches overall in Division I football at 151-42. Montana’s key players are quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat, running back Eli Gillman and wide receiver Michael Wortham.

Montana State is led by head coach Brent Vigen. Key players for Montana State include quarterback Justin Lamson, running back Julius Davis and wide receiver Taco Dowler.

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Montana

Montana-vs.-Montana State semifinal sequel set for 2 p.m. Saturday on ABC

Published

14 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Montana-vs.-Montana State semifinal sequel set for 2 p.m. Saturday on ABC

The first playoff meeting between football rivals Montana and Montana State is set for 2 p.m. Mountain time next Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. The game will air nationally on ABC.

The Bobcats and Grizzlies will square off in the semifinal round of the FCS postseason after each team won convincingly in the quarterfinal round. No. 2-seeded Montana State defeated No. 7 Stephen F. Austin 44-28 at home Friday night and No. 3-seeded Montana raced past No. 11 South Dakota 52-22 on Saturday in Missoula.

Next week’s game between the Cats and Griz will be the 125th all-time meeting, and it will be for a berth in the national championship game Jan. 5 at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

It will also be the first time the schools have faced each other twice in football in the same season since 1913.

The Bobcats are seeking their fourth all-time trip to the FCS/Division I-AA title game and their third visit in the past five years. MSU claims three national championships — 1956 (NAIA), 1976 (NCAA Division II) and 1984 (I-AA). The Bobcats lost to North Dakota State in the championship game in Frisco, Texas, in both 2021 and last season.

The Grizzlies are looking to make their ninth trip to the championship game and their second in the past three seasons. Montana has won two previous titles — in 1995 and 2001. The Griz suffered title-game losses in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2023.

Montana State beat Montana 31-28 in Missoula on Nov. 22 in the regular-season finale to earn the outright Big Sky Conference title and the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. The Grizzlies lead the all-time series 74-44-5 but MSU owns a 12-10 edge since 2002.

Saturday’s other semifinal game pits unseeded Illinois State against No. 12 seed Villanova. Illinois State went on the road and upset No. 8 seed UC Davis 42-31 in the quarterfinals on Saturday while Villanova held on to beat No. 4 seed Tarleton State 26-21.

Illinois State and Villanova will kick off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Mountain time on ESPN2.

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Montana

Oregon women earn 11th victory with win over Montana State

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Oregon women earn 11th victory with win over Montana State

Oregon women’s basketball moved to 11-1 following a 69-44 win over Montana State Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena.

Four of Oregon’s starters scored in double figures, led by guard Sofia Bell’s 15 points.

Mia Jacobs added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Katie Fiso and Ari Long each scored 10 points. Fiso added five assists.

Oregon (11-1) struggled shooting, hitting 19 of 58 field goal attempts (32.8%), including 9 of 31 from three-point range (29%). However, those numbers were mainly dragged down in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand.

Oregon, which led 37-14 at halftime, shot just 22.2% from the field in the final quarter and missed all seven of its three-point attempts. MSU won the quarter 16-11.

Bell went 4 of 8 from long distance, Jacobs went 3 of 8 and Long made both of her three-point attempts. The rest of the team went 0-for-13.

Montana State (6-3) received 14 points and four rebounds from Jamison Philip. The Bobcats shot 1 of 19 from three-point range and committed 23 turnovers that the Ducks converted into 25 points.

Next up: The Ducks host Portland (7-4) at 11 a.m. on Thursday. The Pilots defeated Kent State 88-78 on Sunday.

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