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69th Legislature 2025 HB 944.1
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1 HOUSE BILL NO. 944
2 INTRODUCED BY T. FALK
3
4 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE PROVISIONS OF HOUSE BILL NO. 2;
5 PROVIDING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; REMOVING CARRYFORWARD AUTHORITY FOR THE
6 DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS FOR THE BIENNIUM; AMENDING SECTION 17-7-304, MCA; AND
7 PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND A TERMINATION DATE.”
8
9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
10
11 NEW SECTION. Section 1. At each meeting of the general government budget
12 committee provided for in 5-12-501 following the completion of the 69th legislative session, the following
13 agencies shall provide a written report to the committee on the following subjects with the most recent
14 information from the previous 3 months prior to the reporting date to be received by the committee no later than
15 30 days before each meeting of the committee:
16 (1) the department of revenue on:
17 (a) the implementation of House Bill No. 56 if it is passed and approved;
18 (b) the status of a cannabis moratorium and the request for a position budgeted;
19 (c) the status of hiring, including the status of new offices hiring in new, smaller community offices;
20 and
21 (d) the status of unreported but taxable properties, including but not limited to new construction;
22 (2) the consumer counsel on the status of its caseload contingency fund;
23 (3) the office of the commissioner on political practices on the status of new positions budgeted for
24 lobby reporting;
25 (4) the department of labor and industry on:
26 (a) the implementation of House Bill No. 718 on educating incarcerated individuals if House Bill
27 No. 718 is passed and approved;
28 (b) the status of decreasing reliance on the general fund; ****
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1 (c) the status of the amount of square feet leased by the department; and
2 (d) the status of releasing more positions budgeted;
3 (5) the department of administration on:
4 (a) the status of any contemplated lease changes statewide;
5 (b) the status of any contemplated building acquisitions statewide;
6 (c) the status of procurement disclosure reports produced;
7 (d) vacancy rates in health care and benefit, risk management, and state financial services;
8 (e) efforts to examine internal service rates, including but not limited to the workers' compensation
9 management rate;
10 (f) updates to accounts, fund balances, and interest earnings;
11 (g) any procedural removing general fund dollars with fund switching and other tools where
12 appropriate sectionwide; and
13 (h) any department consolidations or split offs being contemplated;
14 (6) the state information technology services division on its efforts to consolidate and reduce
15 expenses for information technology;
16 (7) the department of commerce on:
17 (a) the status of fair housing and its efforts to define the term;
18 (b) all grants made in the previous quarter, which includes identifying each grant's dollar amounts,
19 recipients, and source of funds;
20 (c) updated tourism tax revenue collections;
21 (d) advertising dollars spent, both on traditional methods and on social media, for the last 10 years
22 by year, by month, and by county, and an evaluation of the department's current marketing and advertising
23 budgets;
24 (e) safe and secure housing inspections update;
25 (f) updates on the Build America, Buy America Act;
26 (g) analysis of consolidating the Montana heritage commission with the Montana historical society;
27 (h) examination of tax revenue generated by the board of horseracing;
28 (i) possible consolidation of departments; ****
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1 (j) evaluating how success is measured by the department;
2 (k) destination Montana, and to provide and explain the results of the phase I planning from the
3 $2.9 million United States development administration travel tourism and outdoor recreation program grant
4 received for tourism sector recovery from the covid-19 pandemic and on the status of the implementation
5 phase; and
6 (l) the updated status of any employees related to the American Rescue Plan Act;
7 (8) the Montana board of housing on:
8 (a) new originated and new serviced loans for the previous 3 months to include the number of
9 transactions and total dollar amounts by mortgage insurance source, including the federal housing
10 administration and the United States department of veterans affairs;
11 (b) the amount of positions budgeted for each mortgage function, including but not limited to
12 origination, processing, underwriting, and servicing;
13 (c) mortgage loans serviced by type to include aggregate dollar amounts, by year of inclusion into
14 a servicing portfolio, and latest delinquency numbers; and
15 (d) an update on the implementation of House Bill No. 819 from the 2023 legislative session;
16 (9) the department of military affairs on:
17 (a) efforts to restrain growth in general fund dollars spending; and
18 (b) an update on the multidomain operations training infrastructure status;
19 (10) the office of budget and program planning on the use of any funds for recruitment and
20 retention, which must also identify the following:
21 (a) the position benefited from the authorization;
22 (b) the agency for which the funds were expended; and
23 (c) the amount expended for the position benefited;
24 (11) the governor's office on the results of the positions budgeted for the governor’s efficiency
25 initiative; and
26 (12) for all agencies that report to the general government budget committee, updates on aged
27 vacancy reports, attrition activity, and vacancy rates.
28 ****
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1 Section 17-7-304, MCA, is amended to read:
2 "17-7-304. (1) All money appropriated for any specific
3 purpose except that appropriated for the university system units listed in subsection (2) and except as provided
4 in subsection (4) must, after the expiration of the time for which appropriated, revert to the several funds and
5 accounts from which originally appropriated. However, any unexpended balance in any specific appropriation
6 may be used for the years for which the appropriation was made or may be used to fund the provisions of 2-18-
7 1203 through 2-18-1205 and 19-2-706 in the succeeding year.
8 (2) Except as provided in 17-2-108 and subsection (3) of this section, all money appropriated for
9 the university of Montana campuses at Missoula, Butte, Dillon, and Helena and the Montana state university
10 campuses at Bozeman, Billings, Havre, and Great Falls, the agricultural experiment station with central offices
11 at Bozeman, the forest and conservation experiment station with central offices at Missoula, the cooperative
12 extension service with central offices at Bozeman, and the bureau of mines and geology with central offices in
13 Butte must, after the expiration of the time for which appropriated, revert to an account held by the board of
14 regents. The board of regents is authorized to maintain a fund balance and to use the funds held in this account
15 in accordance with a long-term plan for major and deferred maintenance expenditures and equipment or fixed
16 assets purchases prepared by the affected university system units and approved by the board of regents. The
17 affected university system units may, with the approval of the board of regents, modify the long-term plan at any
18 time to address changing needs and priorities. The board of regents shall communicate the plan to each
19 legislature, to the finance committee when requested by the committee, and to the office of budget and program
20 planning.
21 (3) Subsection (2) does not apply to reversions that are the result of a reduction in spending
22 directed by the governor pursuant to 17-7-140. Any amount that is a result of a reduction in spending directed
23 by the governor must revert to the fund or account from which it was originally appropriated.
24 (4) (a) Subject to subsection (4)(b) and except as provided in subsection (4)(c), after the end of a
25 fiscal year, 30% of the money appropriated to an agency for that year by the general appropriations act for
26 personal services, operating expenses, and equipment, by fund type, and remaining unexpended and
27 unencumbered at the end of the year may be reappropriated to be spent during the following 2 years for any
28 purpose, except for increases in pay, that is consistent with the goals and objectives of the agency. The dollar ****
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1 amount of the 30% amount that may be carried forward and spent must be determined by the office of budget
2 and program planning.
3 (b) (i) Any portion of the 30% of the unexpended and unencumbered money referred to in
4 subsection (4)(a) that was appropriated to a legislative branch entity may be deposited in the account
5 established in 5-11-407.
6 (ii) After the end of a biennium, any portion of the unexpended and unencumbered money
7 appropriated for the operation of the preceding legislature in a separate appropriation act may be deposited in
8 the account established in 5-11-407. The approving authority shall determine the portion of the unexpended
9 and unencumbered money that is deposited in the account.
10 (iii) Any portion of the 30% of the unexpended and unencumbered money referred to in subsection
11 (4)(a) that was appropriated to the legislative audit division may be deposited in the account established in 5-
12 13-404.
13 (c) For each year of the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, all unexpended and unencumbered
14 funds for contracted services for the department of military affairs must revert to the general fund at the end of
15 that fiscal year.
16 (5) When the carryforward appropriation authority is established on the accounting system, and
17 prior to spending funds pursuant to subsection (4), an agency must report to the approving authority how those
18 funds will be spent in the following 2 years."
19
20 NEW SECTION. Section 3. The general government budget
21 committee may make referrals and recommendations to the legislative auditor.
22
23 NEW SECTION. Section 4. [This act] is effective July 1, 2025.
24
25 NEW SECTION. Section 5. (1) [Section 1] terminates September 15, 2026.
26 (2) [Section 2] terminates June 30, 2027.
27 - END -