House committee hears proposal to create Big Sky Rail account to fund passenger-rail planning and projects

Representative Denise Baum opened House Bill 848 by telling the House Transportation Committee the bill would establish a statewide fund — the Big Sky Rail account — to direct the first $2,000,000 of railroad car tax proceeds each year into a statutory appropriation for passenger-rail planning and related projects. “When we talk about building out passenger rail infrastructure, Montana should not be the caboose,” Baum said, calling passenger rail “critical infrastructure.”

What the bill would do: HB 848 would direct the first $2,000,000 of railroad car taxes, penalties and interest collected into a Big Sky Rail account, a statutory appropriation to the Montana Department of Transportation to be distributed annually. Testimony repeatedly noted that current rail-car tax receipts are distributed to the state general fund and that the bill would instead allocate the first $2 million to the new account.

Support and testimony: The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA) and a long list of local elected officials, county commissioners, chamber leaders, economic-development professionals, tribal…