Appropriations committee debates and votes on a cluster of education funding amendments

The Appropriations Committee considered a package of education-related amendments during executive action on Section E of House Bill 2, approving some one-time items, striking or conditioning others, and rejecting a large teacher cost-of-living add-on.

What passed - Amendment E.014: Changed Montana 10 appropriations to one-time-only (OTO). Representative Beatty said the program remains in a test phase; the committee approved making the appropriation OTO so it could be reconsidered in subsequent biennia. - Amendment E.005 (Montana Promise Grant): The amendment provided $100,000 OTO to restore a need-based Montana Promise Grant previously enacted in law but lacking recurring funding. The committee approved the $100,000 OTO by roll call (16 yes, 7 no). - Amendment E.010 (Robotics/STEM grants): Representative Matthews moved a $100,000 appropriation to support community-based and school robotics/STEM programming; the committee approved the funding by roll call (15 yes, 8 no recorded).

What failed or was rejected - Amendment E.016 (school lunch funding change): Sponsor sought to coordinate the appropriations in Section E with a companion bill that would expand eligibility (raising the appropriation from $300,000 to $600,000 if the policy bill passed). The committee rejected the amendment on a roll call (12 yes, 11 no; motion failed). - Amendment E.015 (teacher cost-of-living adjustment tied to home prices): Representative Matthews offered a proposal to add a formulaic grant to districts with higher housing costs. The floor heard extended debate from members on both sides; the amendment failed on roll call (10 yes, 13 no). Sponsors argued the measure would target teacher pay in high-cost localities; opponents said it required deeper study and risked second-order effects across the funding formula.

Other actions and context - Amendment E.017: Coordinated TEACH/STARS program appropriations so that if the STARS Act passes it would replace the TEACH Act funding. The committee approved the coordination language by voice vote. - Amendment E.018: Added procurement language for database modernization (covered in a separate article) and passed.

Why it matters: The committee’s votes shaped short-term funding for pilot programs (Montana 10 and the Montana Promise Grant), added local STEM supports, and rejected a large cost-of-living formula for teacher pay after extended debate about feasibility and equity. Several changes were made as conditional or one-time appropriations so lawmakers could revisit them at the next biennium or after companion policy bills cleared other committees.

Quotes “Montana 10 is a program…still in the test phase. Changing this to an OTO acknowledges the fact that this is still a project in development,” Representative Beatty said when offering E.014. “The Montana Promise Grant…priority goes to students attending tribal colleges or community colleges…this is a last-dollar, need-based program,” Representative Kiel explained when moving funding for the Promise Grant.

Ending: Committee members said they wanted to prioritize programs with demonstrated early results while avoiding broad structural changes to the school funding formula during the session; many members urged further study for large, structural teacher compensation fixes.