HB 924: Generally revise state finance laws - Montana

HB0924_X(17).pdf → HB0924_X(18).pdf · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly restructured to shift its primary focus from establishing a new Early Childhood Account Board to creating a Pension Fund and a Montana Housing Trust. The funding distribution within the Growth and Opportunity Trust was altered, increasing the percentage of reinvested funds going to the Pension Fund while reducing the allocation to the housing infrastructure fund. Additionally, the timeline for volatile revenue transfers to the Growth and Opportunity Trust was updated, and several repealed sections were removed from the list of amended statutes.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include the establishment of a Pension Fund and a Montana Housing Trust, while the specific focus on Early Childhood education was removed.

FISCAL

The allocation of interest earnings from the Montana Growth and Opportunity Trust was changed to direct 80% to the Pension Fund and 20% to the Montana Housing Trust, replacing the previous 50/50 split.

SCOPE

New provisions were added to establish a Pension Fund and a Montana Housing Trust, replacing the previous establishment of an Early Childhood Account Board.

TIMELINE

The timeline for transferring volatile revenue to the Montana Growth and Opportunity Trust was updated to run from fiscal year 2027 through 2035.

DEFINITION

References to the Montana Early Childhood Account Board and related definitions were removed from the bill text.

REQUIREMENT

The list of repealed and amended statutes was updated to remove references to the Montana Early Childhood Account Board and related sections.

HB0924_X(4).pdf → HB0924_X(5).pdf · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill text shows a minor formatting adjustment where the year '2025' was duplicated in the header of the enrolled bill. No substantive policy changes, legal requirements, or scope modifications were made to the legislation itself.

TECHNICAL

The year '2025' was added to the header line, resulting in a duplicate entry for the legislative session year.

HB0924_3.pdf → HB0924_X.pdf · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill text was reformatted from a draft version (HB0924.3) to an enrolled version (HB 924), standardizing the title, layout, and section numbering. While the core policy language regarding new trust accounts and funding distributions remains largely consistent, specific allocation percentages and dollar caps were adjusted in the enrolled version, increasing the property tax relief cap from $15M to $20M and modifying the pension fund reinvestment target from $750M to $1B.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on revising state finance laws and establishing new trust accounts, but specific funding thresholds have been increased.

FISCAL

The annual distribution cap for the state property tax relief assistance account was increased from $15 million to $20 million.

The target balance for the pension fund reinvestment portion of the trust was increased from $750 million to $1 billion.

TECHNICAL

The bill was updated from a draft format (HB0924.3) to the final enrolled format (HB 924), including standardized headers and section numbering.

Minor formatting adjustments were made to section titles and the removal of bracketed draft indicators like '[section 4]'.

HB0924_2(15).pdf → HB0924_3.pdf · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered from HB 924.2 to HB 924.3 and its title was updated to reflect new administrative structures and funding adjustments. Substantive changes include increasing the pension fund transfer threshold from $750 million to $1 billion, reducing the housing fund transfer threshold from $750 million to $500 million, and adjusting the allocation percentages for property tax relief and water development funds. These changes aim to balance state reserves with targeted funding for critical infrastructure and education.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include the establishment of a new Montana Early Childhood Account Board and modified the authority for transferring volatile revenue to the Montana Growth and Opportunity Trust.

FISCAL

Increased the fund balance threshold for pension transfers from $750 million to $1 billion to allow more flexibility in state reserves.

Decreased the fund balance threshold for housing infrastructure transfers from $750 million to $500 million to prioritize housing funding.

Adjusted property tax relief and water development funding caps from $15 million to $20 million and $10 million respectively.

SCOPE

Added the establishment of a Montana Early Childhood Account Board to oversee the new early childhood funding account.

REQUIREMENT

Modified the reinvestment rules to ensure remaining volatile revenue stays in the trust if account balances exceed appropriation limits.

HB0924_2(2).pdf → HB0924_2(3).pdf · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was restructured to clarify that appropriating trust funds requires a supermajority legislative vote, matching the rules for state debt. It split the distribution of interest earnings into two distinct sections: one for specific state accounts (disaster relief, tax relief, water, bridges, and early childhood) and another for reinvestment into the pension fund and housing infrastructure. Additionally, the definition of volatile revenue was expanded to include partnership income alongside capital gains, and the transfer schedule was updated to include a May 1 deadline.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include partnership volatile revenue as a transferable asset and clarified the legislative process required to access trust corpus funds.

REQUIREMENT

Appropriating funds from the trust corpus now explicitly requires a two-thirds vote in both legislative houses, treating it like state debt.

FISCAL

A new allocation section was added to distribute 20% of interest earnings to specific accounts for disaster relief, property tax relief, water development, bridge funding, and early childhood education.

Interest earnings distribution was split into two separate subsections to distinguish between specific account allocations and reinvestment into the pension and housing funds.

Partnership volatile revenue was added to the calculation of volatile revenue transfers to the trust.

TIMELINE

The transfer of volatile revenue now includes a specific deadline of May 1 in addition to the November 1 deadline.

HB0924_1(5).pdf → HB0924_2.pdf · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted to include a new '2025' header and updated the bill title to clarify that property tax assistance is distributed as a credit to primary residences. The substantive policy content regarding the Montana Growth and Opportunity Trust, including funding allocations and volatile revenue transfer rules, appears unchanged in this specific diff.

TECHNICAL

Added a new header line '2025' at the top of the document.

Reordered the list of amended MCA sections and added new sections to the list of amended statutes.

SCOPE

Updated the bill title to explicitly state that property tax assistance distributed to counties is now a credit to certain primary residences.

LC1199.pdf → HB0924_1.pdf · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was updated from a legislative committee version (LC 1199) to the official House Bill version (HB 924.1), incorporating the full list of sponsors and finalizing the bill title. The substantive policy content regarding the Montana Growth and Opportunity Trust, including funding mechanisms, distribution percentages, and reinvestment rules, remains unchanged from the previous draft.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's policy application is unchanged; this is a procedural update reflecting the bill's progression through the legislative process.

TECHNICAL

Updated the header to reflect the bill number as HB 924.1 and added the full list of sponsors (L. Jones, B. Ler, C. Cochran, etc.) who introduced the bill.

Replaced the placeholder committee title 'LC 1199' with the official 'Authorized Print Version - HB 924' to indicate the document is the final version ready for consideration.

Added a new line containing a fragment of a definition ('Partnership increment') at the end of the document, likely indicating a continuation of the text from a subsequent page not included in the provided diff.

Generally revise state finance laws

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