SB 442 Hailed As Bipartisan Compromise To Resolve Cannabis Tax Revenue Debate

A Senate Committee has advanced a legislative fix to resolve the debate over how the State spends recreational cannabis tax revenue by meeting multiple funding needs.

Senate Bill 442 was amended and unanimously passed out of the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on March 30. The revised bill provides stable funding for county roads, supports veterans and drug treatment services, and establishes a new Habitat Legacy Account to conserve habitat and restore more of Montana’s land and waterways.

For months, citizens, lawmakers, and others have wrangled for a share of the revenue from Montana’s expanding recreational cannabis industry. The debate has resulted in competing proposals this session to change the funding formula that lawmakers authorized during the 2021 legislative session. Those proposals included Senator Mike Lang’s (R-Malta) Senate Bill 442, which was originally worded to scrap Habitat Montana’s share of the tax revenue in favor of improving funding for county roads.

According to Senator Lang, his amended bill is intended to meet the needs of many competing interests including rural Montana’s counties, agricultural producers, hunters, and the State’s growing need to support veterans and drug treatment programs.

“I think we’ve made some pretty smart changes here that are intended to invest in rural Montana’s roads, lands, and hunting opportunities while providing support for our veterans and a growing need for drug treatment,” Lang said. “At the end of the day, we want to give our local counties and local people the tools and resources they need to improve the conditions of the land and be good stewards of Montana.”

The recently amended bill is already being endorsed by long-time advocates of the Habitat Montana program.

“Senate Bill 442 is now a forward-looking bill that meets the needs of future generations by protecting Habitat Montana’s share of the cannabis revenue, sustainably funding access roads, and establishing a new stewardship program to improve our habitat quality, agricultural productivity, and hunting opportunity,” said Kathleen Hadley, a landowner and recent inductee into the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame. “This is about meeting the needs of other Montanans too and we are proud this bill continues to support the HEART fund and Montana veterans in a manner consistent with Governor Gianforte’s executive budget.”

What it does:

Senate Bill 442 proposes to redistribute cannabis tax revenue for the following purposes:

Provides stable and sustainable funding for county roads (20 percent)

Funds the HEART fund at the same level suggested by the Governor’s executive budget (11 percent)

Funds tax relief for veterans and surviving spouses at the same level suggested by the Governor’s executive budget (five percent)

Maintains existing funding allocations for state parks, public trails and facilities, and non-game wildlife accounts (four percent each)

Establishes a new Habitat Legacy Account to fund traditional conservation tools under the Habitat Montana Program and expand the pace and scale of habitat stewardship and restoration treatments across rural Montana.

Sets aside remaining revenue for the state General fund (38 percent)

Senate Bill 442 would establish a new Habitat Legacy Account. The Habitat Legacy Account would fund the Habitat Montana program and future wildlife conservation projects. In addition, any unobligated funds in the account above $50 million could be used for a new habitat stewardship program inspired by the Montana Citizens’ Elk Management Coalition’s proposed Montana Legacy Trust.

To do that, Senate Bill 442 amends and expands the existing Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP) to establish the ‘Kelly Flynn Montana Wildlife Habitat Improvement and Legacy Program,’ in honor of the late Kelly Flynn, who served as a Republican member of the Montana House of Representative from 2011 to 2019.

The Kelly Flynn Montana Wildlife Habitat Improvement and Legacy Program would make funding available for Montanans to enhance habitat on public tribal or private lands, improve or develop water resources, boost the productivity and profitability of small farms and ranches, or mitigate against the impacts of wildfire and invasive species. Conservation districts, grazing associations, irrigation districts, wildlife and landowner groups, weed boards, and Tribal governments would be able to apply for this funding through annual grant-based applications.