The State Budget Wallowed on Senate President’s Desk for 39 Days – Despite Fiscal Year Start Looming

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 15th, 2023

CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org

Montana GOP Gambled With a Budget Crisis

Helena, MT – HB2, the state budget which funds public schools, road maintenance, veterans’ services, Medicaid insurance, and all other government services, was sent to Senate President Sen. Jason Ellsworth’s desk on May 4th and proceeded to sit there for 39 days before being signed. Republicans delayed signing the budget until just two weeks before the start of the new Fiscal Year on July 1st. 

“Montana is supposed to be more responsible than politicians in D.C. But the Republicans played dirty politics with the state’s most critical funding bill,” says Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “The Montana GOP gambled with a budget crisis and brought our state to the brink of a government shutdown, putting funding for our veterans, public schools, health care, and roads at risk. That’s not how we do things in Montana.”

According to reporting by the Montana Free Press, Ellsworth refused to sign the state budget and other major pieces of legislation at Governor Greg Gianforte’s behest. Gianforte was trying to run out the clock on several high-profile veto override polls, and used threats of line-item vetoes in HB2 and the bipartisan childcare bill HB 648 to force the Democratic caucus to vote NO on the ongoing override polls. 

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