HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – On Tuesday, the Montana House of Representatives passed House Bill 2, which combines 10 billion of state and federal dollars to fund state agencies for the next two years. The bill passed with a vote of 54 to 46.
Tim Pierce with the UM Legislative News Service reports that House Minority Leader Representative Casey Schreiner, along with every other House Democrat, voted against the bill.
Schreiner says he’s opposed to the cuts to full-time positions in the state health and human services department, not fully funding need-based tuition support for higher-ed, and not appropriating for public preschools.
“I think we are close, but we are not there. We had an opportunity today to solve some of these problems, to lead with solutions, and we didn’t do that.”
Representative Nancy Ballance, the bill’s sponsor, says the Appropriations Committee had to make tough decisions following big cuts made to the budget during the 2017 regular and special sessions. But, she says was proud of their work.
“It was an unusual situation that we walked into. It was very, very different from what we normally see. We were down as we started this budget. We made the decision not to raise taxes and we are structurally balanced.
This bill will face one more vote before being sent to the Senate.
