Montana Public Radio

state budget

State Budget Can Survive COVID-19 Fallout For Now, Officials Say

By • Aug 12, 2020
Montana Capitol building.
Nick Mott / MTPR

The state’s budget has healthy reserves to make up for revenue shortfalls amid economic fallout due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to state finance experts.

On Wednesday, Legislative Fiscal Division staff presented a report predicting the state’s reserves can cover projected losses through the next fiscal year, but that the rainy day fund will be weaker by the 2023 biennium.

Montana Tax Revenue From Oil, Natural Gas Expected To Drop

By • Jun 25, 2020

A recent Montana legislative report says tax revenue from oil and natural gas production is expected to drop more than 28 percent this fiscal year, which will impact state and county budgets.

Auditors, State Executive At Odds Over Report Of Millions In Ineligible Medicaid Payments

By • Jun 17, 2020


Montana’s health department distributed between $84 million and $163 million in Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Program benefits to people ineligible for those programs, according to an audit presented to lawmakers June 16. State officials emphatically reject several of the audit’s key findings.

Bullock Resists Spending Cuts; Republicans Try To Out-Trump The Competition

By & Rob Saldin & Holly Michels • May 15, 2020
'Campaign Beat' is Montana Public Radio's weekly political analysis program.

Gov. Bullock resists pressure to cut spending because of the economic fallout of the pandemic. Republican candidates sound familiar themes in their new campaign ads. Montana has a higher number of women running for office this year. And why some Democrats are thinking about voting for a Republican in the primary.

Listen now on Campaign Beat, with Sally Mauk, Rob Saldin and Holly Michels.

Bullock: State's Finances In 'Historically Strong Position'

By • May 13, 2020

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock today said the state’s finances are in a “historically strong position” heading further into the COVID-19 pandemic. State officials are still working with incomplete information about the pandemic’s economic impacts.

Republican Lawmakers Draft Letter To Gov. Urging Spending Cuts

By • May 11, 2020
Estimated FY 2020 Montana budget balances.
Montana Legislative Fiscal Division

A letter drafted by the Montana speaker of the House asks Gov. Steve Bullock to consider reducing government spending over concerns about declining state revenue.

The draft will be discussed by the legislative Revenue Interim Committee next week as state leaders continue to crunch the numbers of the economic fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic in Montana.

Coronavirus Is Just The Latest Blow To Montana's Mental Health Providers

By • Mar 26, 2020
iStock

As the COVID-19 pandemic tightens its grip, the services provided by Montana’s mental health and addiction clinics are getting even more complicated.

Those who survived the 2017 state budget cuts have hung on by their fingernails ever since. And it may get a lot more difficult.

State Finances Strong As Coronavirus Hits Montana, Lawmakers Say

By • Mar 23, 2020
Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-HD 87.
Corin Cates-Carney / Montana Public Radio

Montana state lawmakers say the state government is flush with reserve cash as the COVID-19 pandemic creates economic uncertainty around the world. Analysts with the Montana Legislative Fiscal Division report the state’s level of cash reserves, currently sitting at $464 million, is relatively high compared to most years in the past.

State Plans $80 Million Investment In Community-Based Mental Health Programs

By • Feb 3, 2020
iStock

The Bullock administration Monday announced its plan to double the number of Montanans receiving community-based mental health care treatment over the next five years .

Some mental health care providers in the state are still stinging from nearly 3 year old state budget cuts.

Unpublished Report On Medicaid Costs Fuels Questions Over Infrastructure Funding

By • Jan 14, 2020
Legislative Auditor Angus Maciver answers lawmakers questions Jan. 13, 2020. The Legislative Audit Division and the Governor's Office are in an ongoing dispute over an unpublished report looking at Montana's health department and Medicaid system.
Corin Cates-Carney / Montana Public Radio

Montana’s Legislative Auditor is pushing back against the Governor’s Office’s public criticism of an unpublished report on the state health department. The administration says the details are holding up $80 million in infrastructure projects.

Lawmakers were briefed on the brewing controversy during the kickoff of Legislative Week.

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