From the Capitol Cloakroom: The state budget and other funding measures

This past week the House Appropriation Committee recommended passage of HB 2, the state budget. The budget totals $16.6 billion dollars over two years of which 5.1 billion or 31% is made of state general fund dollars which are derived from the state income and excise taxes. The balance of the funding is made up of federal funds and state special revenues which includes revenues dedicated to a specific state function such as highway gas tax money used to construct and maintain the state highways and fishing and hunting license fees used to fund the activities of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. 

The proposed budget is 2.4% higher than that recommended by the governor. HB 2 passed the debate stage vote on the House Floor with a 60 to 39 margin. 

I enjoyed a successful week. My bill, HB 833 contains a $250 million dollar appropriation for the development of a new women’s prison. The Montana Women’s Prison in Billings is completely full and between 50 to 70 females are being held in county jails. A new facility is mandatory. The bill was approved by the House Appropriations Committee and sent to the House Floor with a due pass recommendation. 

HB 851, another bill that I sponsored, seeks to break the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) into two agencies with the state mental health institutions, veteran’s homes, alcohol treatment and developmental disabilities programs moving to a new Department of Health Services. 

DPHHS is the state’s single largest department with a budget close to $3.5 billion dollars per year and employs about 2,900 people. In my opinion, DPHHS is too large and too bureaucratic to operate efficiently, provide decent services to its clients, and offer a good working environment for the employees. Smaller organizations tend to be more nimble, responsive and more efficient. I believe a new department can offer better services to its clients and be less costly to operate. The bill was approved by the State Administration Committee and forwarded to Appropriations for a second review. 

HB 876 passed out of the Appropriations Committee. It provides funding for a loan program to assist parties interested in reopening Montana’s closed sawmills. The bill was requested by the Missoula Economic Partnership who has been working to find a party to reopen the Pyramid Sawmill in Seeley Lake. The loan program will be administered by the Montana Board of Investments.