Montana Politics

The Montana Senate has approved a bill that could pass costs for the Colstrip coal-fired power plant onto NorthWestern Energy customers if the utility buys an added share in the plant.

Senate Bill 379, intended to continue the operating life of the Colstrip power plant, passed on the 27 to 21 vote and now heads to the House for debate.

The Montana Senate has endorsed a $12 billion spending package to guide the state budget over the next two years.

Sen. Ryan Osmundson, Republican chair of the Senate Finance and Claims Committee, says the budget proposal would increase state spending, but it remains a conservative budget. 

Republicans in the Montana House of Representatives have advanced a bill to increase the tax credit residents can claim for donations that help pay student tuition at private schools. The proposal follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that Montana can’t exclude religious schools from the tax credit program.

Republicans in the state Senate have advanced a bill to simplify the state's income tax code from seven tax brackets to two.

The proposal would tax the first $20,500 Montanans make at 4.7% and income above that at 6.5%. That would compare to Montana’s current system in which the top marginal income bracket taxes people making over around $19,000 a year at 6.9%

Updated 04/06/21

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has tested positive For COVID-19.

The governor’s office said in a statement Monday evening that Gianforte tested positive after experiencing mild symptoms on Sunday. He is now isolating for 10 days and his office staff are being tested.

Montana lawmakers are carrying a handful of bills that would impact transgender people, adding to the record number of proposals seen across the country this year to restrict trans kids from playing in school sports and accessing gender-affirming health care. Several of those policies are nearing Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk.

As of mid-day Friday, 1,271 bills had been introduced and at least 135 had been signed into law. This week we’re watching how lawmakers are piecing the budget puzzle together. Major questions remain over new taxes cuts, funding state agencies, what to do with federal stimulus and recreational marijuana. Much of this work is under a Thursday deadline for appropriation and revenue bills, including regulations for marijuana, to move from one chamber to the other.