Lawmaker seeks deep cut to Montana Supreme Court budget; committee tables bill

Representative Lucas Schubert, R, introduced House Bill 883 to the House Appropriations Committee, saying the bill would reduce funding for the Montana State Supreme Court and arguing the move is needed to check what he called "massive judicial overreach." "My name is Lucas Schubert. Last name spelled s c h u b e r t. Today, bring before you house bill 8 8 3, a bill to reduce the funding for the Montana State Supreme Court," Schubert said.

Schubert told the committee the court had exceeded its role by overturning election-related laws and weighing in on issues he described as "their own personal opinion," and he framed budget cuts as a lawful exercise of the legislature's "power of the purse." He proposed setting the Supreme Court's biennial budget at $18,000,000 and said the committee could change the exact number.

Opponents representing the judicial branch and legal community said such a large, across-the-board reduction would impair essential services. Dave McAlpin, court administrator for the judicial branch, testified in opposition: "I think this bill would severely cut the budget of the judiciary enough to make us incapable to accomplish the statutes and the constitutional mandate." Bruce Spencer, speaking for the State Bar of Montana, said the Supreme Court's operations cover information technology, payroll and human resources, judicial education, child-abuse-and-neglect federal court-improvement work, boards that regulate judges and the practice of law, and the sentence review board; he warned an arbitrary cut would "abrogate all the hard work" of staff who develop the court's budget.

Heather O'Loughlin of the Montana Budget and Policy Center also opposed the bill and urged the committee to reject the approach.

During questions members pressed the sponsor on alternatives and scope: some suggested more surgical reductions focused on staff or discrete programs rather than a broad cut that could reach court operations; the sponsor said the committee could narrow the reduction to particular line items if it preferred.

Representative Fitzpatrick offered a substitute motion to table House Bill 883. The committee adopted the substitute motion to table. The hearing record for HB 883 closed after that action.

The transcript records discussion and testimony but does not show the bill returned for a final do-pass vote in the portion of the session provided here.