Nancy Ballance

The Montana Legislative session ended several months ago, but lawmakers have been eagerly awaiting the final tax revenue numbers for this fiscal year.

Montana’s biennial legislative session gets underway on Monday, January 7, and Chair of the House Finance Committee Nancy Ballance provides a preview of the upcoming 90 day session.

There is already some drama at the Montana Legislature, and the gavel hasn’t even yet sounded

Governor Steve Bullock on Wednesday said that $45 million cut from the Department of Public Health and Human Services would be restored now that accurate budget numbers have been released.

A lot has been made of the 227 million dollar hole in the Montana budget that spurred the Special Session of the Montana Legislature this week, but one of the big debates among republicans was whether or not the deficit was real.

With a tight budget and a stream of cuts, many Montana officials are considering tax increases in a possible special legislative session, but according to Montana House Finance Chair Nancy Ballance tax increases will be a hard sell to the Republican dominated legislature.

Novel legislative maneuvers rarely make headlines, they are difficult to explain and often don’t amount to much, but the tricks of the trade were on display at the Montana Legislature this year.

At the Montana Legislature's House Appropriations budget hearing on Wednesday morning, Director of the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, Sheila Hogan, had harsh words for what she termed drastic budget cuts to her department.