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Coal-trust endowment proposal debated; sponsor offers smaller seed while budget analysts urge caution
Summary
Sen. Daniel Emmerich proposed directing general-fund dollars into a coal-trust subaccount to seed an endowment that would expand an education scholarship tax-credit program; sponsor suggested a smaller $25M start option; budget analysts opposed the larger transfer, and the committee later tabled the bill in executive action after a close roll call.
Senator Daniel Emmerich presented Senate Bill 159, a fiscal-structure bill that would transfer general-fund dollars into a coal-trust subaccount whose earnings would be split to grow the fund and to lift the cap on the education scholarship tax-credit program. Emmerich framed the measure as a structural, long-term way to seed a program that could otherwise require large recurring general-fund appropriations.
Emmerich described how a $100 million deposit could grow the endowment and produce recurring revenue to expand the tax-credit cap; he also said a smaller $25 million seed could be an acceptable path to create the structure while limiting near-term budget impact. Legislative fiscal staff confirmed there is precedent for general-fund transfers into trust funds but fiscal-division and budget analysts urged caution given competing priorities and projections of structural budget pressures in later biennia.
Heather O’Loughlin of the Montana Budget and Policy Center testified in opposition, noting the state faces competing spending pressures and that major transfers should be weighed against other priorities including behavioral-health proposals. Following discussion and an amendment to reduce the transfer amount in committee markup, a substitute motion to table SB 159 succeeded in a roll-call vote (12 yes, 10 no) and the bill was tabled in this session’s executive-action sequence.
What happens next: SB 159 was tabled in committee after the substitute motion; sponsor said he would continue to work with colleagues on a smaller seed amount if the committee wishes to pursue the structural concept.
