HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock has signed the Legislature’s main budget bill after using his line-item veto authority to strike a small portion of the spending.
Bullock says in a line-item veto message Friday that he needed to reduce spending. His office says the reductions cut about $30 million from the two-year, $8 billion budget.
House Bill 2 cleared the Legislature with the backing of minority Democrats and some Republicans.
But Bullock says lawmakers did not stick to his goals of a structurally balanced budget that left more money in the in the bank.
The line-item veto did not axe any particularly large programs.
One move would strike the 6 percent pay hike that Republican lawmakers gave to game wardens who broke with other union workers and backed Bullock’s Republican opponent.
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