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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Bill Would Provide Matching Funds For Infrastructure Projects In Montana

Lawmakers in Helena will be considering a bill that would offer grants to local communities to fund infrastructure projects. Senate Bill 162 would divide the state into four quarters, based on population, to distribute up to $40 million for projects.
The bill specifically lays out what can be defined as an infrastructure project, which the bill’s Republican sponsor Senator Keith Regier says is a key provision. He took issue with a museum being included in an infrastructure bill last session.

"Why are we putting money into a museum when we’ve got roads, bridges, school roofs and other things that have a lot of needs," Regier says.

Grant winners would have to come up with matching funds.

"They could use money already invested in a project — say that a county has been working on a road and they already have several hundred thousand invested in that road, they can use that in their matching portion," says Regier.

The Senate Finance and Claims Committee will hear the bill Tuesday.

Freddy Monares is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Greater Montana Foundation.

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