New state analysis shows 2.1% biennium budget increase
Jordan Hansen
(Daily Montanan) An analysis of Montana’s budget for the 2025-27 biennium showed a 2.1% increase over the previous biennium, the Legislative Fiscal Division reported this week.
Some members of the state’s legislature said during the session the increase was double-digits, focusing specifically on the general fund, which House Appropriations Chair Llew Jones said was a misrepresentation of the budget.
“Sadly, members of Montana’s Freedom Caucus have been deliberately misleading constituents, citing as much as an 18% increase in our state budget by including General Fund spending from the previous session and transfers to other state funds in their calculations,” Jones said in a press release. “Instead, the total state budget will grow by just over 2% in the next two years, which we accomplished while also giving historic income and property tax cuts to Montana families and small businesses.”
Jones stated the calculations factored in “transfer of General Fund resources to special trusts and the distribution of significant income and property tax reductions” when coming to the 2.1% number. That growth rate is less than inflation, the release noted, an often repeated goal of Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte.
Some Freedom Caucus members are skeptical about the calculations. Rep. Jerry Schillinger, R-Circle, said an effort had been made to cut certain items out of the budget toward the end of the session to “make it look better” and added that the money would still be spent anyway.
“I just haven’t verified their numbers yet, but I’m highly skeptical of what Representative Jones is talking about,” Schillinger told the Daily Montanan.
The fight over the budget was bitter during the session and a coalition of Democrats and Republicans pushed through the $16.6 billion spending package. Schillinger said some “big government” Republicans, instead of working with fellow conservatives, sought out Democrats to work with instead.
He said this has been happening for several sessions.
“It just came out more and more into the open this session,” Schillinger said.
He added that if the legislature had done its job, Gov. Gianforte, a Republican, wouldn’t have to be spending the time “vetoing all these bills.”
Not all spending bills have been signed or vetoed, meaning the calculations could change depending on spending, the Legislative Fiscal Division analysis stated. Schillinger said that it appeared likely the Governor would also be signing the mega-trust bill discussed heavily near the end of the session.
HB 924, for example, was touted by Jones as critical money for housing, childcare, and disaster resiliency. It became a touch point for spending hawks in the legislature who repeatedly decried the spending.
A release stated, “these trusts will increase Montana’s resources.”