Appropriations committee: Go Trust bill passes; several funding and policy bills tabled or fail in final votes

The House Appropriations Committee completed executive action and recorded votes on several bills. Major outcomes in the portion of the transcript provided: House Bill 924, a comprehensive reinvestment/"Go Trust" package, passed after multiple amendments; several other appropriations and policy bills were tabled or failed on committee votes.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 924 (Go Trust and related trust allocations): Passed as amended. The committee adopted a sequence of amendments (voice and roll-call votes) and the final motion to pass the bill as amended carried, with the final recorded tally reported in the transcript as "13 voting yes, 10 voting no." The bill includes multiple subtrusts and initial one-time appropriations for subaccounts; committee discussion spanned caps, triggers for transfers, and whether to allocate a larger share to pensions or housing.

- House Bill 256 (creation of Mountainaw Water Trust and special revenue accounts): Tabled. Representative Walsh moved to table; the roll-call result in the transcript was recorded as 19 yes to table and the motion carried, so the bill was tabled.

- House Bill 951 (transfer to local road and bridge account): Failed on a committee roll call. The final tally recorded in the transcript was 10 yes and 13 no; the motion to advance or pass did not carry.

- House Bill 505 (Montana Housing Infrastructure Revolving Loan Fund and deed restriction provisions): Passed. The transcript shows a roll-call tally of 21 yes; the bill was ordered passed by the committee.

- House Bill 366 (appropriation to DOJ for Lake County reimbursement related to PL 280): Tabled. The committee recorded votes to table and the motion carried (roll-call indicated a strong majority for tabling in the excerpt).

- House Bill 185 (continuous Healthy Montana Kids eligibility for children, as amended): Passed as amended. The committee adopted a conceptual amendment to shorten continuous eligibility and then voted to pass; final roll-call recorded 17 yes and 6 no.

Context and notes

- HB 924 drew extended debate and several amendments. Committee members questioned caps on subtrusts, the constitutionality of higher-yield investments, and whether housing should receive a dedicated share or whether more funds should go to pensions. Multiple amendments were considered by voice and roll-call votes; the final passage figure reported was 13-10 in favor.

- Where votes were taken by voice, the transcript records the chair's announcement of the outcome but not a roll-call tally. Where roll-call tallies are recorded in the transcript excerpt above, this article reproduces the committee's announced counts; if an individual name-by-name roll call was given in the transcript, that is available in the committee record.

- Several bills were tabled by motion (a non-debatable procedural motion). Tabling does not reflect on final legislative fate in the full House; it pauses the measure in committee.

Formal actions (recorded in transcript excerpt)

1) Motion: Amend HB 924 with amendment HB0924.001.001 (voice vote). Outcome: adopted (chair announced amendment carries).

2) Motion: Amend HB 924 with amendment HB0924.001.004 (voice vote). Outcome: adopted (chair announced unanimous passage by those present).

3) Motion: Amend HB 924 with amendment HB0924.001.005 (roll-call). Outcome: adopted (chair announced the amendment passed; transcript indicates the amendment vote carried).

4) Motion: Final passage of HB 924 as thrice amended (roll-call). Mover: Chairman Jones. Outcome: passed; recorded tally announced in transcript: 13 yes, 10 no.

5) Motion: Table HB 256 (roll-call). Mover: Representative Walsh. Outcome: tabled; recorded tally announced in transcript: 19 yes to table.

6) Motion: Advance (do pass) HB 951 (roll-call). Outcome: failed; recorded tally announced in transcript: 10 yes, 13 no.

7) Motion: Pass HB 505 (roll-call). Mover: Representative Vinton. Outcome: passed; recorded tally announced in transcript: 21 yes, 0 no (chair's announcement).

8) Motion: Amend and pass HB 844 (sponsor moved conceptual amendment; subsequent roll-call on amendment failed; committee then reversed to table in transcript). Outcome: amendment failed on roll call; committee later tabled/returned the item in procedure.

9) Motion: Table HB 366 (roll-call). Outcome: tabled; the transcript records the motion carried (23 yes recorded in the excerpt at the time of tabling).

10) Motion: Pass HB 185 as amended (voice and roll-call). Outcome: passed as once amended; recorded tally announced: 17 yes, 6 no.

Limitations and provenance

- The summary above is restricted to the actions and tallies explicitly recorded in the transcript excerpt provided. Several voice votes were recorded with chair announcements rather than name-by-name roll-call counts; those voice outcomes are reported as the chair announced them.

- Where the transcript gave a clear numeric roll-call result, this article reproduces the committee's announced totals.

Ending

Committee action during the hearing day resolved a mix of long-running policy items: a major trust-and-allocation package (HB 924) advanced as amended, several funding bills were tabled for later consideration, and other bills failed or passed by the committee in recorded roll calls. For exact vote-by-name tallies or to inspect amendment text, consult the committee clerk's official minutes and the legislative bill files.