HELENA — Fiscal conservatives in the Montana House have rejected an infrastructure bill that contained $78 million in bonding.
Friday’s defeat puts pressure on the Legislature and Gov. Steve Bullock to draft a consensus plan palatable to fiscal conservatives who find bonds hard to swallow and to Democrats who insist on keeping several big-ticket projects in the package.
With the House measure falling 65-35 — two votes short of the two-thirds needed — lawmakers will have to work with a Senate version that barely advanced to the House.
The Senate version proposes $98 million in bonding, which would almost certainly be a deal killer for some House Republicans.
Repairing roads, bridges, sewer and water systems has long been a priority, but differences over which projects should be financed and how has stymied efforts to pay for the work.