April 14-18, 2025

Easter Break begins with discord; 27-23 not final score of Brawl of the Wild; MUS budget, infrastructure undiminished; Policy bills move; Back to the future     

Sometimes it snows in April
Sometimes I feel so bad
Sometimes I wish that life was never ending
But all good things, they say, never last

—Prince. “Sometimes it Snows in April.” Parade. Paisley Park-Warner Bros. 1985.

Whether any particular legislative session is a good thing depends on who you ask but one thing is certain: it never lasts. By the end of Friday, members of the 69th Montana Legislature will have dispersed to all corners of the state, home through the snow squalls to the warm embrace of family for Easter Break after what can conservatively be described as a highly charged week. Patience is stretched as thin as a sheen of oil on water, which is about how well the various factions are mixing. The final stretch, beginning next Tuesday, promises dramatic speeches, Olympic-level property tax gymnastics, procedural machinations, press conferences, and a continued snow globe blizzard of bills and amendments swirling around it all.

Through the storm, the state's budget and infrastructure investments in the MUS have remained on solid footing. Some enacted policy changes have and will impact system operations, and the system undeniably has its detractors. But overall, the confidence expressed by a majority of the Legislative Branch in the stewardship of resources by the Board of Regents and the MUS has been encouraging during a strange and strained few months.

23 and Me

The name of the popular genetic test to trace family history is based on the 23 pairs of chromosomes found in human DNA. Twenty-three also routinely and predictably appears on the Senate vote board, much to the dismay of those 23 lawmakers.

On Thursday the Senate tackled HB 2 (the General Appropriations Act) and within three hours it had passed on 2nd Reading, 27-23. Of the 23 (coincidence?) proposed amendments, four were approved, including one carried by Sen. Janet Ellis (D-Helena), to revert community college funding to the amount that was passed on the House floor after the Senate Finance and Claims Committee had placed an amendment on the bill to revise those funding amounts.

One stymied HB 2 amendment, proposed by President Matt Regier (R-Kalispell), sought to revert the entire bill to the funding levels proposed in the Governor’s budget. Other global amendments took different approaches to adding contingency appropriation language to coordinate with House and Senate Bills still in the process that do not have appropriation authority within them. A global contingency amendment moved by Sen. Carl Glimm (R-Kila) failed, 23-27. The version requested by Sen. Josh Kassmier (R-Fort Benton), preferred by the Democrats and a handful of Republicans, passed 27-23.

Other than the back-and-forth on community college funding and Finance and Claims’ addition of funding for meat processing at MSUN, the OCHE/MUS budget numbers are the largely the same as they have been since Section E left the Joint Subcommittee several weeks ago. Efforts to cut 1-2-Free funding or otherwise alter the Section E Subcommittee’s recommendations have failed.

At the conclusion of HB 2’s floor debate, some of the 23 stood to voice their displeasure at what they consider to be a bloated budget they believe is far beyond the Governor’s proposal. They cautioned that the other bills still in the process (many of them tax policy proposals) would cast  the general fund structural balance further into the red and warned that tough decisions lie ahead for the 27 who voted for the bill, harshly chastising them for reckless spending. Whether their dire predictions come to pass remains to be seen, but the HB 2 debate vividly reflects the stark and rancorous division that has characterized the 2025 Senate since January 6.

MUS Infrastructure

Senate Finance and Claims action on House Bill 5 has been delayed while wrinkles unrelated to MUS projects were ironed out. On Thursday, the Committee sent the long-range building appropriations bill to the Senate floor, 21-1. MUS capital projects, maintenance, and authority have not changed. The Senate has not yet scheduled the bill’s 2nd Reading, but next week is a safe bet.

HB 10, providing appropriations for long-range information technology projects, also passed out of Finance and Claims Thursday and awaits its 2nd Reading schedule.

Broken Record

Tax policy and tax relief will likely dominate the remainder of this session. For the remaining handful of bills OCHE is tracking, Governor Gianforte is the next stop.

HB 284 - Establish an interim committee to investigate civil rights violations and censorship within the MUS
On Wednesday the Senate amended the bill to make the $23,000 appropriation for the committee’s operation apply to the biennium and passed it Thursday on 3rd Reading, 29-19. Membership remains evenly split by chamber and by party. The committee may not meet more than 3 times and must complete its work by September 15, 2026. Following House approval of the Senate amendments, the bill is on its way to the Governor.

HB 400 – Enact the “Free to Speak Act”
HB 400 is through the process and on its way to the Governor.

HB 499 – Extend the grow your own grant program
The Senate Education and Cultural Resources Committee tabled SB 499 early in the week, but motions on the Senate floor to take it and several other education-related bills from the table (known as a “blast motion”) passed 27-23 on Thursday. On Friday, the bill passed its 2nd Reading vote, 27-23.

HB 553 – Generally revise military higher education act
The bill easily cleared the Senate and is on its way to the Governor.

HB 718 – Generally revise laws relating to incarceration
This proposal to establish an office of reentry services in the Department of Labor and Industry with OCHE among the entities listed as a stakeholder has easily passed the Senate and is headed to the Governor. It will become effective immediately upon the Governor’s signature.

HB 823 – Revise laws relating to the state plan committee
HB 823 would amend existing law governing the Perkins State Plan Committee, its membership, and the requirements of OCHE, DLI, and the State Workforce Innovation Board. It is headed to the Governor.

SB 271 - Remove prohibition on certain compensation for collegiate student-athlete's name/image/likeness
SB 271 is headed to the Governor.

SB 482 – Revise contract laws relating to student athletes
SB 482 is headed to the Governor.

Time Served/Time Travel

The official Legislative Calendar shifted slightly. So what was to be Day 79 is now Day 78 and Day 79 is next Tuesday. Or something.

Legislative Day: 78
Percent Complete: 86.67%