Bill would redirect coal-trust interest to fund trooper pay and DOT operating account

HELENA — House Bill 615 proposes redirecting interest earnings from Montana’s coal severance tax permanent fund to two purposes: an annual $2 million appropriation to the Department of Justice to help retain troopers and the remainder to the Highway State Special Revenue Account (HSRA) at the Department of Transportation, sponsor Rep. Jerry Schillinger said at a House Taxation Committee hearing.

Schillinger (Rep. Jerry Schillinger) said the measure is “a simple $20,000,000 bill,” with roughly $2,000,000 directed to DOJ and about $18,000,000 going to HSRA. He described the funding as interest earnings from the coal trust rather than new severance collections.

The bill also extends the statutory sunsets on a set of existing interest distributions that otherwise are scheduled to end; those distributions would be continued through June 30, 2029, under the bill, with portions of the bill’s allocations remaining in law after July 1, 2029, according to legislative fiscal staff. Alice Hecht of the Legislative Fiscal Division told the committee that the bill’s first effective provisions begin July 1, 2025, and that the extension runs through July 1, 2029, after which some parts of the statute would remain in effect.

Why it matters: HSRA is the state’s operating account for transportation projects and maintenance; it supplies…