Montana

State budget draft passes initial House vote with bipartisan support

Published

9 months ago

April 3, 2025

State budget draft passes initial House vote with bipartisan support

Bipartisan support propelled Montana’s next state budget through an initial vote in the House on a 60-39 margin Wednesday, putting an initial stamp of legislative approval on approximately $16.6 billion of spending for the two-year financial cycle that starts July 1.

While some state spending will be authorized by other bills or existing laws, the budget bill, traditionally numbered House Bill 2, represents the single largest spending measure lawmakers will consider this year, funding agency programs and initiatives intended to serve residents across the state.

As debate on the budget bill opened on the House floor Wednesday, House Appropriations Chair Llew Jones said he was pleased with where the measure stands.

“It represents a balanced, responsible, and sustainable budget,” Jones said.

Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, speaking to House lawmakers in November 2024. Credit: Mara Silvers

Democrats, most of whom voted for the bill, struck a lukewarm tone, with House Minority Leader Katie Sullivan, describing it in a press briefing following the floor debate as “OK.”

The current bill spends about $7,300 per resident per year, with 44% of its spending coming from federal funding rather than tax dollars collected at the state level. Another 22% comes from special-purpose revenues such as hunting license fees, and most of the remainder will be pulled from the state General Fund, which is filled primarily with income tax dollars.

Because of the budget’s size and complexity, lawmakers typically split it into five sections as they work through its pieces. Here’s how the budget stands following Wednesday’s debate section by section:

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

The Legislature’s catch-all budget section includes spending for agencies such as the Department of Administration, Department of Revenue, the governor’s office and the Legislature itself. Those and similar agencies represent a relatively small slice of the budget pie, at 10% of spending.

Among the expenditures included in this portion of the budget are $229,000 to help the state Commissioner of Political Practices improve its semi-functional lobbyist database and $400,000 to improve the legislative website.

Lawmakers voted 60-39 Wednesday to remove $12.9 million a year that had been allocated to the governor’s office for a recruitment and retention fund for state employees. Supporters had argued the money, which would have been administered by the governor’s budget director, would have provided state government resources to help maintain staffing for hard-to-fill positions like engineering and health care roles. Critics argued that agencies have other ways to address their staffing needs and worried about centralizing that authority with the governor’s office as opposed to distributing it across agencies.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

The health and human services portion of the budget includes more than $7 billion in total spending for programs under the Department of Public Health and Human Services. That amount, 44% of the overall state budget, includes about $5 billion in federal funding.

Major health spending in the budget includes more than $100 million in additional funding for operations and bed space at the Montana State Hospital, a 3% rate increase for Medicaid and community service providers and $111 million for the department’s information technology systems.

Some of those spending items were added to the budget by a bipartisan group of lawmakers as it was reviewed by the House Appropriations Committee last week. Fiscal conservatives made several attempts Wednesday, most of them unsuccessful, to wind those increases back, pushing to remove funding for a 14% rate increase for vocational rehabilitation trainers; more than a million dollars toward increasing in-state psychiatric bed capacity; and $2 million in transfers from the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) account to food banks and after-school programs.

Several of those amendments were drafted at the request of Rep. Bill Mercer, R-Billings. Speaking about the additional funding for food banks and after-school programs, Mercer called the TANF fund “a bit of a shiny object” but urged lawmakers to resist reallocating dollars that come with strict requirements from the federal government.

“There are many recipients of those benefits or those programs that are not TANF-eligible,” Mercer said. “We have no way of ensuring, from a compliance perspective, that the individuals that are actually benefiting from those dollars are TANF-eligible.”

Democrats criticized the attempts to cut that funding, as well as other Republican belt-tightening measures.

Most of the Republican-sponsored cost-cutting amendments failed by margins of more than 20 votes. The one successful amendment, brought by Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, struck a shift for hospital taxes that Buttrey described as unnecessary.

Democrats also made unsuccessful attempts to add money to the health and human services portion of the budget, including additional funding for vocational rehabilitation staffing, special clinics that evaluate and diagnose children with disabilities, and community crisis beds. Those amendments failed on narrower margins than those brought by Republicans.

NATURAL RESOURCES AND TRANSPORTATION

Agencies funded through this budget section include Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Montana Department of Transportation, the Department of Livestock, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the Department of Environmental Quality. This section represents 18% of the overall budget.

The budgets for most of those agencies are supported by state and federal collections funneled into specific programs and initiatives, as opposed to money from the state General Fund. Such collections include hunting and fishing license sales, permitting fees for regulated industries, revenue from timber sales and mineral leases, and taxes on gas, marijuana, guns and ammunition.

Rep. Jerry Schillinger, a Republican from Circle who worked on the natural resources and transportation budget section, argued that the agencies that maintain Montana’s highways, manage its public lands and wildlife, and administer its environmental regulations have been “impacted pretty heavily” by tourism, recreation and the state’s swelling population.

The version of the budget bill endorsed by the House on Wednesday includes $3.8 million for mine reclamation, $1.1 million for a veterinary lab at Montana State University, IT support for water management databases, and 23 new FWP positions, seven of which are game wardens.

It also includes 10 new positions dedicated to bridge upgrades at a cost of $2 million, an additional $3.5 million for operating and repairing water storage projects, and four positions tied to the state’s effort to encourage competition in the meatpacking industry. Both FWP and DEQ asked for and received a funding bump for additional legal staff totaling about $824,000.

Rep. Marilyn Marler, D-Missoula, introduced an amendment to support in-person hunter education programming. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers urged support for a “suffering” volunteer-assisted program that has become heavily reliant on online instruction. Marler’s amendment passed the chamber 58-40.

The House voted down three amendments seeking to reduce funding for additional transportation engineers, a federal electric vehicle initiative developed under the Biden administration and inflationary increases FWP requested for the department’s flagship publication, Montana Outdoors magazine.

COURTS AND PUBLIC SAFETY

The Montana budget’s public safety section includes the state Department of Justice, as well as state prisons managed through the Department of Corrections and the state’s court system, which handles both criminal cases and civil litigation. It also includes Montana’s utility regulation board, the Public Service Commission. Combined, those and other public safety agencies represent about 7% of the state budget.

Notable inclusions in the current public safety budget include $1.7 million to add two new judges in Yellowstone County.

Several parts of the public safety budget drew significant debate on the House floor Wednesday. Among them was a successful motion to add money to the budget for hiring two additional railroad safety inspectors under the auspices of the Public Service Commission.

Democrats also made unsuccessful motions to strip out $1 million a year in litigation funding included in the DOJ budget, add more money for the Office of the State Public Defender, and cut about $12 million a year for housing 360 state inmates at for-profit prisons in Arizona and Mississippi.

Republicans defended the out-of-state prison placements by arguing they are the best option for relieving prison overcrowding until the state can build additional publicly owned facilities.

EDUCATION

At $3.5 billion in expected spending, education represents about 21% of the overall budget. About three-quarters of that money is flagged for Montana’s Office of Public Instruction and the public K-12 school system it oversees.

Among the notable changes are a $53 million inflationary increase to the state’s share of school funding and $109 million to increase starting teacher pay through House Bill 252. Better known as the STARS Act, HB 252 has so far drawn strong bipartisan support and is backed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte along with various statewide education agencies. The proposed OPI budget also features a $5.5 million reduction by eliminating the TEACH Act, a precursor to HB 252 that will likely be preempted by the new measure. Other alterations included $5 million to help implement revised statewide math standards and $2 million in one-time funding for OPI’s languishing database modernization project, which to date has largely been paid for with now-expired federal COVID-19 relief money.

The education budget also includes $754 million for the agency that oversees Montana’s universities, as well as funding for the Montana State Library and the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, among others. Many of those portions of the budget feature modest increases to existing operations. A few exceptions include $122,000 to help recruit and train educational interpreters at MSDB, and $2.2 million to expand the university system’s “One-Two-Free” program to community and tribal colleges, which covers the cost of up to three college courses for dual-credit students on those campuses.

Fiscal hawks led by Rep. Terry Falk, R-Kalispell, made two unsuccessful attempts to trim education funding via floor amendments Wednesday. The first amendment proposed cutting $2 million from a state assistance program to help local school districts pay off debt, and the second sought to eliminate $180,000 in funding for an administrative position directing oversight of state-owned university buildings. Falk withdrew the first after resistance from Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton. His second amendment was rejected on a 70-28 vote, with Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, calling it “penny wise, pound foolish.”

THE PROCESS

The budget bill started its life in the form of Gianforte’s November budget proposal, which was picked apart by budget committee lawmakers over the first half of the session before being voted to the floor by the House Appropriations Committee last week.

Following Wednesday’s floor vote, the budget bill faces a final vote in the House before advancing to the state Senate, where it will undergo further consideration and more rounds of amendments. The House and Senate must agree on the budget’s final form before returning it to the governor for his signature.

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Related Topics:2025 legislature Featured House Bill 2 Katie Sullivan Llew Jones

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Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lucky For Life results for Dec. 22, 2025

Published

5 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 22, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Dec. 22 drawing

03-18-36-41-54, Powerball: 07, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Dec. 22 drawing

09-16-23-34-46, Lucky Ball: 07

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from Dec. 22 drawing

01-09-18-19-44, Star Ball: 02, ASB: 05

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from Dec. 22 drawing

10-11-16-19, Bonus: 08

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from Dec. 22 drawing

14-32-47-48-69, Powerball: 17

Check Powerball Double Play 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.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

Winning lottery numbers are sponsored by Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network.

Where can you buy lottery tickets?

Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.

You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer.

Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 18+ (19+ in NE, 21+ in AZ). Physically present where Jackpocket operates. Jackpocket is not affiliated with any State Lottery. Eligibility Restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Terms: jackpocket.com/tos.

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.

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Montana

‘Layered, adaptive’ wildfire insurance approach needed in Montana

Published

17 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

‘Layered, adaptive’ wildfire insurance approach needed in Montana

Jordan Hansen

(Daily Montanan) Calling rising wildfire insurance rates an “urgent challenge,” a Headwaters Economics and Columbia Climate School report released this month points to potential approaches to address the financial burden on Montana property owners.

Nationwide, property insurance rates are rising — but they’re doing so even faster in areas with “climate-related perils” according to a report published by the U.S. Treasury Department at the beginning of this year.

Non-renewal of policies is also an issue and that same Treasury report found that in areas with “the highest expected losses from climate-related perils,” non-renewals of property insurance coverage were more common.

The Headwaters report looks at five strategies that could be employed to help communities in high-risk areas find insurance. These approaches include community risk pooling, ideas pulled from agriculture insurance and large-scale state reform.

According to the state’s insurance commissioner, James Brown, the state could see the fifth-highest state increase in property insurance increases this year, citing a National Association of Realtors report. Montana policy holders paid a little more than $4 billion in premiums in 2013, that number in 2022 was almost $7.4 billion, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

He pointed to escalating fire risk in a May letter as part of the problem.

“First, wildfires have become more frequent and intense. Nearly 70% of all wildfires recorded in Montana have occurred since 2000,” Brown wrote. “These longer-lasting, more destructive fires dramatically increase the risk to homes, pushing insurance rates higher. Second, Montana’s scenic appeal and lifestyle continue to attract new residents, inflating property values and replacement costs — thereby driving up premiums.”

He went on to write that half of all properties in Montana are “at risk of catastrophic wildfire damage.”

‘Ability to financially rebound’

About 75,000 acres burned in Montana this year with one main residence, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. Fires involving large numbers of structure losses — such as the Eaton and Palisades fires around Los Angeles earlier this year — have become more common and the economic losses are staggering.

Montana has seen some fires that have destroyed homes, including the 2021 fire in Denton and the Bridger Foothills Fire in 2020.

According to a 2023 Department of Interior report, the annual burden of wildfires on the U.S. Economy was between “$71 billion to $348 billion in 2016 dollars ($87 billion to $424 billion in 2022 dollars).” The same report said there are “huge” data gaps around “property damage, loss of life, and healthcare costs.”

Tens of millions are spent on fire suppression and mitigation in Montana each year and nationally, suppression costs consistently ring in at well over a billion dollars annually.

But even with the suppression and mitigation efforts, communities can struggle when faced with a fire disaster.

“As the protection gap expands between those with insured losses and those without, a community’s ability to financially rebound is weakened, municipal revenue flows including property taxes may be diminished, and significant federal investment may be needed to offset recovery and rebuilding costs,” the Headwaters report reads.

It also cautions that no single strategy will solve all problems and goes on to say a, “layered, adaptive, and equity-focused framework,” will be needed to address insurance issues caused by wildfires. Additionally, the report does not cover renters nor the “unique” experiences of Native Americans living on tribal reservations.

“Land inside reservations may have unique ownership structures and be subject to federal oversight in ways that interfere with private sector insurance coverage, and tribes have long contended with additional administrative barriers to public support systems,” the report reads.

‘Reducing their own risk’

The report suggests five “new pathways” for insurance in the state, which are: voluntary certification programs, community-based catastrophe insurance, parametric policies, FAIR state plans (insurance of last resort), and state regulatory reform.

The report discusses the benefits and drawbacks of each approach, as well as examples from other states that have utilized some of those ideas. FAIR plans have been implemented in Florida, for example, while parametric policies essentially model agricultural drought insurance.

Voluntary certification is the idea that’s gained the most traction, said Kimi Barrett, a lead wildfire research and policy analyst at Headwaters. Barrett, along with Columbia Climate School’s Lisa Dale, authored the report.

Voluntary certification, where citizens do specific things to reduce fire risk on their property in tandem with others in their community, leans into the idea of home and community hardening, an approach conservation groups applaud.

Some scientists have argued the root of the wildfire issue is actually a structural ignition problem and that losses could be lessened by better building codes and materials.

These types of policies have mostly been done in western parts of the country.

“It’s modeled off of what hurricane mitigation is required in places like Alabama and elsewhere, where it’s essentially a fortification of a home to that hazard,” Barrett said. “And in doing so, demonstrating to insurance providers that the risk has been reduced enough to meet criteria for insurance retainment moving forward.”

Colorado has modeled this policy, passing a statewide fire code this year that made a home-hardening inspection mandatory at point of sale. The report also found there are potentially psychological factors to consider within the voluntary certification program.

“Shifting residents’ current expectations of external support, including home protection from firefighters, disaster relief from FEMA, and insurance as a buffer from loss will take a concentrated effort,” the report reads. “When homeowners accept personal responsibility for reducing their own risk, they may find the costs associated with home hardening to be more acceptable. Fostering this mindset change will take significant public outreach.”

‘A house in the country’

However, population trends show that people keep moving to and building in fire-prone areas.

According to the Montana Environmental Information Center, the number of new homes built in wildfire-prone areas doubled between 1990 and 2020.

Areas like the Bitterroot and Flathead Valleys are particularly vulnerable, even as southwestern Montana has exploded in population. Grass fires in Montana are a concern too, as evidenced by the fire that swept through Denton in 2021.

“Everyone wants a house in the country, right? It’s beautiful, and yet we created the imperfect storm,” Dominick DellaSala, a conservation scientist, said to the Daily Montanan. “Because now the climate has shifted, the Forest Service can’t possibly put out all these fires that are increasing in speed, intensity and acres burning where all these houses were built. So what do we do about it?”

The state Legislature is looking at the broader issue of property insurance rates in an interim committee and there’s a wildfire study bill as well. Those discussions could end up becoming legislation during the 2027 Legislative session, and the hope from the Headwater Report’s authors is that it helps inform these discussions.

It’s also important to note what insurance companies are looking for, Barrett said.

“Insurance is spending money on homes getting damaged and destroyed by wildfire,” Barrett said. “What they need to see is risk reduction ahead of a wildfire to those homes and communities placed in high risk areas, and that forest treatments and fuels reduction of landscapes alone, will not get them there, nor will suppression and response. It requires addressing the built environment at the same level that we currently address suppression and forest treatments.”

Insurance advocates have pointed to low amounts of hazardous fuels work being done under the Trump Administration — possibly as much as a 38% drop in annual average of acres treated — and are looking to see more done.

“We’ve seen more evidence and more informative reports for policyholders and homeowners about what they need to do to help protect and defend their home and make sure that they’re safe,” said Jayson O’Neill, an insurance advocate. “We aren’t seeing this sort of same urgency from our regulators and our state insurance commissioner and our state legislators.”

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Montana

‘No quit’: Montana, dealing with emotions of semifinal loss, goes back to drawing board

Published

1 day ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

‘No quit’: Montana, dealing with emotions of semifinal loss, goes back to drawing board

MISSOULA — It was an emotional scene at Bobcat Stadium for the Montana Grizzlies at the conclusion of Saturday’s playoff game as Montana finishes the season 13-2. Those two losses came against the same program as the Grizzlies got on the doorstep of the national championship game, but fell just short.

“I’m just extremely grateful,” UM wide receiver Michael Wortham said after the Grizzlies’ 48-23 semifinal loss to rival Montana State. “Sucks that it’s the last game, but thankful for these guys and the opportunity they gave me. There was never no quit, you know? We battled through a lot of things behind closed doors.

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‘No quit’: Montana, dealing with emotions of semifinal loss, goes back to drawing board

“This team is amazing. I just hope we’re remembered for how hard we worked and how hard we came out there each and every day to play against whoever.”

The Bobcats were too much to overcome for the Griz on Saturday as they beat them twice this season.

Photos: Montana State beats Montana in historic playoff meeting

The rivalry’s heightened importance in the regular and now postseason has risen because of where both programs stand in both the Big Sky Conference and FCS landscape.

“(Montana State has) done a really good job,” UM head coach Bobby Hauck said. “And the bar was set in this conference by us, and there’s been a desperate urgency at this place to catch up, and certainly they have.

“I talk to Leon (Costello), talk to Brent (Vigen), and everybody’s looking at the two of us. And we have good football programs. We have good players. We have good coaches. It’s highly competitive, whether it’s recruiting or on the field.”

That competition culminated into the largest meeting ever between the two.

“Competition’s good. That’s why you do this,” Hauck said. “And it’s highly and wildly competitive. And my impression, the wrong team won today, but that’s 50% of the state, not the other 50.”

Emotions surrounding these programs colliding are always high, and in sports one team has to lose.

This time it was Montana, as their season concludes one game short of where they’d like.

“It’s been the best time of my life,” UM safety TJ Rausch said. “I love these guys. I love my coaches. I’ve had more fun this year than I’ve ever had playing football. And I can’t thank our coaches and my teammates enough for that.”

“I’m proud of our team. I’m proud of my guys. We have quality, class, young men in our program,” Hauck added. “They play football the right way. Our coaches coach them the right way. And I’m as proud to be a head football coach as I’ve ever been today.”

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