Montana House debates river-use census, English-learner funding and farm-to-food-bank; dozens of measures advance

Helena — The Montana House of Representatives spent its floor session Wednesday debating and voting on several policy measures, most prominently a proposed statewide river-use census, a bill to provide state funding for English-language learners, and a farm-to-food-bank grant program that failed to advance.

Representative Secondure, sponsor of House Bill 762, told members the bill would create a biennial river-use report covering about 966 miles of river and "count everything that floats — rafts, kayaks, strip boats, inflatable flamingos, canoes and tubes" and separate private and commercial use. He said an existing funding source had been identified that avoids tapping general fishing license dollars or the larger fiscal note previously mentioned: "we have found an existing funding source that does not use a single general license dollar and averts the $37,000,000 version mentioned in the fiscal note." Representative Fielder objected to the price tag, calling the roughly $2.6–$2.7 million figure cited in debate "an awful lot of money" for a boat survey.

Supporters described the aim as establishing a baseline for future policy decisions and local planning. Representative Konauer argued the bill is "really about data gathering" so future regulatory discussions could rely on numbers rather than anecdotes. The House approved an amendment clarifying the funding source; the amendment passed the committee vote 95–4. Later on the floor Majority Leader Fitzpatrick moved to re-refer House Bill 762 to the Appropriations Committee; that motion was made "without objection."

Another lengthy debate concerned House Bill 361, a bill to revise education law and establish state…