Next Up - The Budget

The Montana Legislature is back in Helena after a mid-session break and all eyes are on the state budget.

The House Appropriations Committee has started chipping away at the 50+ page bill that will decide the state budget for the next two years. Yesterday lawmakers debated Montana’s Medicaid program and the services provided through it.

Elinor Smith reports for the UM Legislative News Service reports that Representative Llew Jones is the sponsor of HB 2 and he said the committee would work on the budget every day until they get through it.

House Bill 2 is broken up into different sections -- covering the state of Montana’s expenses ranging from education to Healthcare. State-funded healthcare services makes up just about half of the state’s overall budget, costing Montana’s general fund about $2.5 billion dollars a year.

The committee is aiming to come to a final budget and vote on HB 2 by noon on Tuesday, March 14th.