The 69th Legislature is entering the second half of its session. Lawmakers have less than two months to pass their priority bills and a balanced budget.
Lawmakers are still picking and choosing how they want to make a budget after Gov. Greg Gianforte proposed his own $18 billion spending plan before the session began.
The Legislature in the coming weeks will also have to decide on competing proposals to lower property and income taxes, whether to pass a popular bill to raise public school teacher pay, and if they want to change the state’s bedrock environmental policy.
Major policy passed in the first half of the session included a bill to continue the state’s Medicaid expansion program, which provides health coverage for low income adults. That’s waiting on the governor's desk.
Outside of lawmaking, the state Senate is moving ahead with an ethics investigation into Republican Sen. Jason Ellsworth for a no-bid deal he signed with an associate. The Senate is also awaiting an audit of contracts President Matt Regier signed.
