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Montana Senate concurs to extend school lead remediation funds for two years
Summary
The Montana Senate concurred with House Bill 234 to allow continued use of a remaining $3.7 million in state funds for a school lead-in-drinking-water reimbursement program for two years; the motion passed 48–1 after senators described wrapped drinking fountains and slow program uptake.
The Montana Senate on March 27 concurred with House Bill 234, a measure to allow continued use of the remainder of $3,700,000 originally appropriated for a lead-in-drinking-water mitigation reimbursement program for Montana schools. The motion was offered by Senator Elsz and passed on a roll call of 48 yeas and 1 nay.
House Bill 234 would permit the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) lead mitigation reimbursement program to continue to reimburse schools for work to replace fixtures, purchase supplies and pay labor up to a maximum of $100,000 per school facility. Senator Elsz said the intent is “to allow for the continued use of the remainder of $3,700,000” for two additional years so districts can complete testing and remediation.
The bill’s sponsor told senators the program has reimbursed 36 schools to date and that about $626,000 has been spent so far. Elsz told the chamber that testing and implementation took longer than expected, and that program uptake was affected because school districts often had to spend up front and, in some districts, had to exhaust federal COVID-relief dollars first before becoming eligible for the state reimbursement.
Senator Kelly Bolden described encountering a taped drinking fountain in a Missoula elementary school hallway and urged colleagues to notify districts that the program exists. “The drinking fountain is wrapped in a garbage bag with, like, duct tape around it,” Bolden said, adding that many schools still show fixtures above the action level for lead.
Senator Vinton asked whether the item had been through Finance and Claims; Senator Lehi (chair of Finance and Claims) confirmed the bill already had that review. The sponsor closed debate before the unanimous roll call tally.
Implementation details recorded during debate: the program provides up to $100,000 per facility, 36 facilities have been reimbursed so far, and roughly $626,000 of the appropriation has been spent; the sponsor said 74% of Montana’s roughly 591 school facilities have at least one fixture that exceeded the lead action level.
The Senate’s concurrence sends the reauthorization forward for final processing so DEQ can continue reimbursing eligible school projects for another two years.
