Bullock threatens to veto House budget bill

Despite a threatened veto by Gov. Steve Bullock just hours earlier, the Montana House passed a $10 billion budget bill along party lines by 59-41 on March 19. House Bill 2 will go to the Senate next for consideration.

Bullock threatened to veto the budget bill for failing to pay for critical services, such as protecting children from abuse. House Democrats had spent more than two days trying to restore about $1 billion in funding and programs included in Bullock’s budget proposal.

House Republicans rejected nearly 100 amendments by Democrats, who tried to add to the budget bill $37 million for a preschool program, pay raises for state employees and funding to keep staffing in the state public defenders office at current levels.

Bullock said the nearly 100 amendments brought by Democrats were meant to restore “reasonableness and essential services.”

“I will not accept a budget that puts Montana’s fiscal health in jeopardy and that fails to fulfill our obligations to the people of Montana,” he said. “If House Bill 2 were to arrive on my desk today, I would have no choice but to veto it. I am disappointed in the political games at play here. The people of Montana expect us to do better.”

Republicans, who hold a majority in the House, denied nearly $1 billion in state services requested by Democrats.

House Appropriations Committee chairwoman Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, said GOP-led committees studied the details of state agencies for weeks to develop a leaner budget proposal. She said she was disappointed Democrats didn’t prioritize their requests.

“The pile of wants and wishes that just didn’t happen to get included in the 5-1/2 percent increase reflects the same old tired argument that government knows best how to spend your money,” Ballance said.

The Republican budget is only 2.5 percent lower than the governor’s request for ongoing spending, she said.

Rep. Pat Noonan, D-Ramsay, the committee’s vice chairman, countered that Republicans knew of the Democrats’ priorities, but nobody was listening.

In 2013, House members spent only a little over an hour to unanimously approve a roughly $9 billion spending plan, thanks to bipartisan negotiation beforehand.

Bullock called on the Senate to reject the “unproductive actions of House leadership” and work with his administration on a budget that lives within the state’s means and meets the needs of Montanans.