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Senate committee rejects Hunters and Anglers Community Fund; sponsor sought voluntary license check‑off for rural grants
Summary
House Bill 560 would have created a check‑off on hunting and fishing licenses to fund small grants to rural communities. The Senate Finance and Claims Committee voted the bill down 8–14; supporters said the fund would provide modest rural grants, while opponents cited municipal revenue timing and implementation issues.
House Bill 560, the Montana Hunters and Anglers Community Fund, failed to pass the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on March 5 after debate on the proposal’s design and likely effects on local budgets.
Representative Tom France, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the measure would create a voluntary check‑off on hunting and fishing conservation licenses allowing purchasers to donate to a new fund. The fund would be administered by the Department of Commerce, overseen by a seven‑member advisory board with hunters, anglers, local government and agricultural representation, and would award two types of grants: small awards up to $2,000 via a one‑page application and larger grants up to $20,000 requiring a more detailed application.
"We'd like to set up a check off on our conservation license where hunters and fishermen buying licenses could voluntarily check off an amount that they wanted to donate to the fund," France said, describing local examples where private donations supported community groups.
Proponents — including the Montana Farmers Union and Montana Wildlife Federation — said the fund would provide a new, targeted revenue stream for rural communities (defined in the bill as communities under 7,500 population) and could support local food banks, meals‑on‑wheels and small civic projects. Mandy Grama, deputy director at the Department of Commerce, said the department would administer the program and the advisory board would be attached to the department.
Opponents and some committee members said the proposal needed more work on mechanics and that some municipalities were wary of additional complexity or timing mismatches with local budgets. Representative France said the bill includes a termination date (2029) and that the intent is experimental and scalable.
At executive action the committee recorded a vote of 8 in favor and 14 opposed; House Bill 560 failed to pass. Committee members later agreed without objection to reverse the immediate defeat and table the bill, per committee practice.
