Montana
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.
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.
MISSOULA — Four out of five members of Montana’s Public Service Commission were in a federal courtroom in Missoula Thursday morning, as the PSC’s former president challenges the disciplinary action taken against him earlier this year. Now, newly released documents are shedding more light on to what led up to this point.
(Watch the video for a closer look at the case.)
New documents shed light Montana PSC dispute
Commissioner Brad Molnar has sued President Jeff Welborn, Vice President Jennifer Fielder and Commissioner Annie Bukacek – the three PSC members who voted in May to require him to work remotely, after an investigation into complaints about his workplace conduct. Molnar has claimed he is being unfairly punished for constitutionally protected speech, and he asked Senior U.S District Judge Donald Molloy to allow him to return to the PSC offices.
Matthew Monforton, Molnar’s attorney, told the judge that barring Molnar from the building was limiting his ability to do his job.
“He has not been officially kicked out of office, but his voice has clearly been diminished,” said Monforton.
But Natasha Jones, an attorney representing the other three commissioners, said the findings were about behavior, not just speech, and that the PSC’s action was a reasonable response.
“These are serious concerns about a pattern of conduct that has made employees quit,” she said.
Jonathon Ambarian
On Tuesday, Molloy ordered the release of redacted versions of two full investigative reports into Molnar’s conduct – more than 100 pages of documents. Monforton had moved for the full reports to be made public, and Molloy ruled attorneys for the other PSC members hadn’t shown a compelling reason to keep the documents under seal as long as the names of people involved in the investigation were obscured.
While the names remained redacted in the investigation reports, the attorneys for Welborn, Fielder and Bukacek also filed additional documents – including a public declaration from Bukacek and from former PSC executive director Alana Lake, providing information about their allegations against Molnar.
The two reports, from an outside investigator, cover Molnar’s alleged actions over two periods: the first from February to August 2025, and the second from August to October 2025. The investigation began after the first formal complaint, filed by Bukacek in May 2025 – though the reports say employees had been bringing up concerns about Molnar’s behavior informally for several months prior.
Bukacek’s complaint claimed Molnar had repeatedly made what she called “sexualized and demeaning comments.” The examples she cited included saying the PSC should replace “Taco Tuesdays” with “Topless Tuesdays,” reminiscing about watching girls in bikinis as a teenager, and commenting about the beauty of women in areas of China who didn’t get “old and wrinkly.”
In her declaration, Bukacek also claimed Molnar had “maliciously disseminated false information” about her and “engaged in behavior that was dismissive, derisive and otherwise abusive.”
“My primary concern now is not for my safety nor my feelings, but for the rest of the staff who may not have the temperament to speak up or may feel too intimidated to speak up given concerns over job security,” Bukacek said in her declaration.
MTN News
The investigators determined Molnar had violated the PSC’s code of conduct by making comments of a sexual nature, and that it appeared his behavior had continued for some time after he was warned about it. They also found he had behaved unprofessionally and in a belittling manner toward Bukacek, though they said Bukacek herself had at times used “language that could be considered inappropriate” in emails to staff or other commissioners. Bukacek told MTN she “readily self corrected” any behaviors that were brought to her attention.
The investigation also found a violation in connection with a complaint from a PSC staff member, who said he “felt bullied” by Molnar when the commissioner sent an email complaining about his team not being “people with competence.”
However, much of the first report and the entire second report was focused on conduct after the initial complaints, when Molnar was accused of retaliating against people who participated in the investigation. Lake said in her declaration that she saw “an immediate and significant change in his behavior toward staff involved in the process.” She claimed he said he would use an attorney and private investigator to go after people who filed complaints, and she accused him of publicly criticizing her in interviews and removing her job responsibilities because of her handling of the investigation.
Lake said Molnar’s actions led to “declining morale within the agency,” undermined staff members’ ability to do their jobs and damaged her reputation. She said that led her to resign as executive director.
“I believe no employee should be forced to choose between reporting misconduct and protecting their career, reputation, or personal well-being,” she said in her declaration.
Lake has since become Helena city manager.
Jonathon Ambarian
The report said there was evidence to show Molnar had retaliated, including by “making disparaging statements about investigation participants” including Lake, by sending an email warning he could file complaints of his own against people involved, and by taking other actions investigators said could dissuade employees from reporting behavior in the future.
Monforton said during Thursday’s hearing that the initial comments Bukacek complained about were jokes Molnar had admitted were inappropriate, that he regretted saying them, and that he hasn’t made any similar comments in about a year. But he argued the vast majority of the findings against Molnar were about retaliation – and that those were primarily based on speech that the other commissioners don’t have the right to interfere with.
Monforton said it’s unreasonable to punish Molnar for what he said in the July news conference where he announced he was under investigation, in interviews with the media or in commission meetings. He said Molnar’s conduct doesn’t rise to the level of actual retaliation.
“This is an elected official, engaging in speech in his forum,” Monforton said.
He said Molnar may have made harsh comments toward staff, but that he had the right to raise objections about the way the agency does business.
Jonathon Ambarian
Monforton also argued the retaliation claims no longer justify keeping Molnar out of the office, since Welborn, Fielder and Bukacek voted to remove him as president in October and he no longer has the authority he’s accused of misusing. He said there haven’t been further complaints about his behavior since that time.
“We’re not asking for the moon and stars, we’re asking for the status quo as it existed for the last seven months,” he said.
Jones said there is enough evidence to show Molnar would have been punished regardless of whether any protected speech was excluded.
“This is not about a couple of jokes,” she said.
Jones said Molnar made maliciously false statements about people like Lake, and that type of statement isn’t covered by free speech protections.
She also said Molnar’s exclusion from the PSC offices is temporary, and that the PSC will reconsider whether to let him return if he apologizes for his actions, accepts the agency’s code of conduct and undergoes training.
Molloy indicated he saw indications that there was “acrimony” on both sides of the situation, and said he was skeptical it would be resolved easily.
“It would be nice if instead of juvenile behavior, there was professional behavior,” he said.
However, the judge said there was an avenue for Molnar to pursue if he wanted to reach a resolution.
Molloy took no immediate action Thursday. He told the parties he would rule as quickly as he could.
Carrie Gilbertson has been executive director of Cancer Support Community Montana for just under two months, stepping into the role in April with more than 15 years of nonprofit experience and a lifetime of Montana roots.
The organization provides psychosocial and mental health support to anyone affected by cancer — not just those with a diagnosis, but also family members and others walking alongside them.
WATCH: Meet the new leader of Cancer Support Community Montana 🎗️
Cancer Support Community Montana names new executive director
“This mission of providing psycho-social supports and mental health supports for anyone impacted by cancer, not just that person who has the diagnosis, but also family members, anyone who is walking alongside someone as they experience that often scary diagnosis, that’s just something that’s important to me,” Gilbertson said.
Gilbertson’s role extends beyond the Bozeman office. Cancer Support Community Montana’s Missoula location is already up and running, and a Helena location is expected to be operating soon. Each presents its own set of challenges.
“Each hospital is different. They might have different resources. Their social workers might be connecting to things in a different way. So understanding what those hospitals need, what different participants need in each community, is going to be different just because the communities are different, resources are different,” Gilbertson said.
The Bozeman office has been operating for more than 20 years, providing a foundation that supports the organization’s broader statewide efforts.
“I think this is a crew that looks at what does this community need what do our participants need what are some of the changing landscapes in cancer care what things are the gaps that we see that we can maybe just jump right in and you know let’s see if we can provide that for people so that’s something I really love about this crew that I work with and just this mission that there is some flexibility in being able to adjust and adapt as we learn more,” Gilbertson said.
Those adaptations show up in unexpected ways. The organization converts its parking lot into a pickleball court every Friday morning.
“I didn’t know there was a pickleball court. I pulled in actually with my daughter pulled in and she was is that pickleball court and I was like oh, it kind of looks like it is so yeah that’s fun, every Friday morning we clear out the parking lot and put up the net and I haven’t played yet I’ve been watching just to kind of see how that game works but they take it pretty seriously,” Gilbertson said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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