HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – The 66th Montana Legislature is at its halfway mark, which means any policy bills that haven’t made it through their first house, will not move forward.
Tim Pierce with the UM Legislative News Service reports that 59 bills have passed both houses and have reached the governor’s desk. Governor Steve Bullock says one of the most impactful laws he’s signed is House Bill 159, which will add about $77 million in funding for K-12 education.
“I’m glad that the education committee got that to me early on.”
Republican Speaker of the House Greg Hertz from Polson says he’s proud of passing bills like Miles City Representative Eric Moore’s infrastructure payment bill that mixes borrowed money and cash for public works projects. Hertz also says he intends to keep stopping bills that would increase taxes as the session moves forward.
“It’s not just about passing bills too, it’s about killing bad legislation fro the state and Montana taxpayers.”
About 200 bills will be dead by the time the Legislature reconvenes on March 7th. That’s about a fourth of all the bills introduced this session.
