HELENA — The Montana state House gave initial approval Thursday to a two-year state budget deal that includes additional funding to raise state employee wages.
Representatives endorsed House Bill 2 by a vote of 86-14 with all the “no” votes coming from Republicans.
“One of the important things to get in there was the state employee pay plan,” said Democratic Rep. Pat Noonan of Ramsay, calling the deal an extraordinary compromise. “The pay plan is almost as negotiated but with a three-month delay.”
Under the plan, state employees would receive 50 cents more an hour in January 2016 and again in January 2017. The original proposal negotiated by Gov. Steve Bullock’s administration and the three major state employee unions would have increased pay starting in October.
The state also would increase its contribution toward state employee insurance costs by 10 percent in January 2016 and by another 8 percent in January 2017. The plan is also tied to a tuition freeze for Montana college students.
Noonan was part of the conference committee of House and Senate members charged with finding a budget compromise. They met for the first time Thursday after days of closed-door meetings. Twenty-seven amendments were added to the budget Thursday morning and several more in the afternoon with the bulk of added funding coming from $67 million for the pay plan.
Committee member Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, said they also found places to save money and that final budget comparison numbers will be available Friday. The Senate’s budget was $23.5 million more than the roughly $10 billion biennial total that passed out of the House in March. It also included $24 million in supplemental funding to backfill the current state budget, a provision that was killed in a rare move by the House. Bullock had threatened to veto the House version saying it failed to pay for critical services but said the Senate version was more acceptable.
“I think that we have come up with the best product we can knowing that we are a body of mixed interests,” Ballance said.
Republican Rep. Tom Burnett of Bozeman voted for the bill but commented on the state spending what he called a tremendous amount of money.
“We have not tamed the juggernaut of government spending,” he said.
If the House passes the measure on third reading, it will go next to the Senate for consideration and if approved quickly, the session could end well before its scheduled last day May 1.