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Senate panel approves bill redirecting marijuana excise revenue to conservation, law enforcement and behavioral health
Summary
SB 537 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee after broad proponent testimony; the bill re-buckets recreational-marijuana excise revenue into a Habitat Legacy account and new law-enforcement and HEART fund allocations.
Senate Bill 537, sponsored by Senator Daniel Zolnikov, would reorganize existing allocations of recreational-marijuana excise taxes to create a Habitat Legacy account and direct portions of the revenue to law-enforcement grants, behavioral-health funds, forensic evidence exam payments and other targeted uses.
Zolnikov said the bill does not change the total amounts dedicated to conservation (32 percent) but clarifies how those funds are distributed and creates new statutory "buckets" for law enforcement and behavioral-health priorities. He described a per-department allocation for law enforcement (a base amount plus a per-officer share) and said the bill also increases the HEART Fund share and adds a 1.5 percent allocation for forensic sexual-assault examination payments.
A broad coalition supported the measure: conservation groups (Wild Montana, Montana Audubon, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers), homelessness and behavioral-health advocates, the Office of Victim Services and many local stakeholders testified the bill would increase habitat stewardship, speed trust and grant payments to local projects, reimburse forensic exam costs that currently exceed the state rate, and fund case management for homeless services.
Department of Revenue staff and tax-policy analysts answered fiscal-note questions. After sponsor Q&A and debate about bucket mechanics, the committee passed SB 537 on a voice vote (with proxies recorded), and the clerk announced the bill was passed out of Senate Judiciary.
