In Montana’s 2011 legislative session, a majority of legislators proposed deep, unnecessary, and harmful cuts to vital public services like education, health care, and job training. The resulting damage to our families, communities, and economy was only prevented by last-minute negotiations with the governor. While the budget compromise restored funding to many vital public programs, some harmful cuts remain. The cuts were unnecessary. The Legislature balanced its budget using out-of-date and overly pessimistic revenue estimates, refusing to act on updated estimates from their non-partisan staff and even higher estimates from the governor’s office.  Read full report or summary.

Montana’s 62nd Legislature is now twelve weeks into the session, and the proposed state budget has passed from the House, Senate Finance and Claims, and is scheduled to be heard on the Senate floor as early as next week. This preliminary budget includes unnecessary and harmful cuts that jeopardize the quality of schools, place our seniors’ health care at risk, and cause long-term harm to our vital public services. Unfortunately, the proposed cuts also stand to endanger the future of Montana’s greatest asset- our children. Over $130 million of the cuts directly impact Montana’s children.

The legislature is considering ways to balance the state budget. Despite some rhetoric to the contrary, there are plenty of mechanisms available for maintaining our investments in education, health care, and other public services. One option is to scrutinize tax expenditures to determine if any are obsolete or ineffective. Tax expenditures quietly drain the state of million of dollars in revenue every year. In fiscal year 2009 alone, we lost $375 million, which amounted to 20% of the state’s general fund budget that year.

The Montana Legislature has made hundreds of unnecessary and harmful preliminary cuts that jeopardize the quality of schools, place our seniors’ and children’s health care at risk, and cause long-term harm to our vital programs and services. As of March 1, the Legislature has made $224 million in cuts to the governor’s proposed budget and recommendations. This report provides an analysis of some of the preliminary cuts made to core public services and the harms that would result if they are passed.

Montana has the option to maintain core public services that educate our children, keep our families and communities healthy and safe, and help our most vulnerable neighbors make ends meet. These programs also create jobs for teachers, nurses, and other workers throughout the state. Unfortunately, the legislature’s budget subcommittees have slashed many of these services, threatening the health and safety of our communities now and our prospects for sustained and shared prosperity in the future.

The pivotal debate currently underway in Congress on how to address the federal deficit will undoubtedly have an enormous impact on our nation, our state, and our collective ability to address priorities from Social Security and health care to education. For example, many of the proposals being discussed would result in deep cuts to Medicaid. In addition to jeopardizing the health of many of our most vulnerable neighbors, the Medicaid cuts could have a devastating impact on the struggling economies of every state in the nation, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity at risk. Considering the state has only gained 7,500 jobs since the lowest point of the recession, these proposed cuts to Medicaid could eliminate over half of all jobs gained since Montana began its recovery.

In Montana, thousands of families across the state are working but still struggling to make ends meet. Recent economic trends have made it even harder for working families to live above the poverty line. Montana has over 17,000 families that are working but poor.

A state EITC would provide a much-needed economic boost to these hardworking families and their communities. Indeed, the most efficient way to stimulate the Montana economy is to support low-income families who are likely to immediately spend that support in businesses and communities across the state.