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Rotunda Roundup
from Montana Farmers Union
Legislative Update for
Feb 3rd - 7th
The following is a weekly update of Montana Farmers Union involvement in the 2025 Montana Legislative Session. MFU is the state's largest and oldest grassroots family farm advocacy organization representing family farms, ranches, and rural communities for more than 100 years.
This week, we saw a range of legislation from Medicaid Expansion to cuts to the marketing dollars for made in Montana program and Montana agritourism grants, along with modernization for livestock transportation documents, among many other bills that we are monitoring.
High Level Action Alert: Urge House Appropriations to send HB 119 back to the drawing board.
HB 119 - Establish MT Cattle Committee: second beef check-off in the works. MFU is still currently opposed to the bill. The bill provides for a politically appointed committee that would collect an assessment fee of $1 from Montana Cattle producers upon a referendum vote.
Status & Next Steps: The House of Representatives passed the bill out of their chamber on 3rd reading 52-47. The bill will next be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
Click here to use our action alert system to send an email to your Senator today asking them to send the bill back to the drawing board.
Some additional highlights from this week:
SB 209 - Revise term length of conservation easements, sponsored by Sen. Tony Tezak. Montana Farmers Union opposed SB 209. The bill would have effectively gutted conservation easements by placing a limit on the length of the easement rather than it being in perpetuity. This would remove the opportunity to utilize this valuable and voluntary tool for family farmers and ranchers to have at their disposal to keep family farms and ranches protected and in production for the next generation.
. Status & Next Steps: The sponsor of the bill asked for it to be tabled and the Senate Judiciary tabled the bill following the bill hearing.
SB 215 - Revise the definition of public school system and requirements of school funding formula by Sen. Becky Beard. MFU opposed SB 215. Education is the cornerstone of our democracy. MFU urges full funding for Public Schools concerns that this bill will put funding at risk Our rural schools are the heartbeat of our communities, by tying student achievement to inflationary funds that are not all related to student achievement. The cost for our schools to operate and the cost of services necessary to keep our schools running are not necessarily all tied to student achieve
Status & Next Steps: The bill was heard in the Senate Education and Cultural Resources committee on Feb. 4. The committee will take executive action on the bill soon.
SB 4 Revise taxation of homesite on certain agricultural property, sponsored by Sen. Becky Beard & HB 27 Remove automatic agricultural classification for certain parcels, sponsored by Rep. Sherry Essmann &: MFU opposed both bills as they are currently written. SB 4 is looking at ag tax structure of 1-acre homesites on agricultural property, while HB 27 looks at land classification/changes for “idle” land that are currently enjoying Montana’s Agricultural land tax rate.. We think policy should support the continuation of farming, and we urge the Montana legislature to remove all tax advantages that are intended for agriculture from being utilized by non-agricultural operations. Written, do not feel these bills address the problem fully.
Status & Next Steps: SB 4 was heard on Wednesday, Feb. 5 and HB 27 was heard on Friday, Feb. 7. Both bills await committee action.
HB 360: Establish the child care workforce recruitment and retention support payment program, Sponsored by Rep. Melissa Romano. MFU supports HB 360.
HB 360 would accomplish two things for rural families: bolster the availability of child care, and provide a kick start to child care businesses. Child care is especially important to beginning farmers and ranchers. If we as a society value keeping the tradition of agriculture alive in Montana, we have to level the playing field for rural families.
Status & Next Steps: The bill was heard in the House Health and Human Services committee on Feb. 6 and the committee will vote on the bill soon.
Unpopular opinion: I think kids should always need childcare, not just when a parent is at an off-farm job. Farming is dangerous and our kids shouldn’t HAVE to be in the fields with us.
HB 129 - Provide income tax benefit to support emergency response volunteers sponsored by Rep. Llew Jones. MFU supports HB 129 The bill provides an income tax benefit for volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency care providers. MFU is deeply invested in supporting our rural EMS providers.
Status & Next steps: The bill has transmitted to the Senate and will have a Senate hearing soon.
Notable bills coming up for MFU:
Watch for incoming MFU action alerts on the following bills!
HB 390: Provide for Montana right to repair agricultural equipment act, sponsored by Rep. Paul Tuss. The bill would provide farmers, ranchers, and independent mechanics the tools and diagnostic software necessary to repair their equipment. The bill will be heard on Thursday, Feb. 13 in the House Business and Labor Committee.
SB 246: Provide for Montana First Procurement laws and establish reporting requirements, sponsored by Sen. Cora Neumann. The bill provides a reporting requirement of contracts for the procurement of food products by a governmental body with a total contract value of $100,000 or more that are entered into or renewed after June 30, 2025, must include a provision that requires the vendor to provide the total dollar of Montana-produced foods purchased by the governmental body. The bill will be heard in the Senate State Administration committee on Wednesday, February 19.
LC3338 Providing tax incentives to put Montana-produced food first, sponsored by Rep. Jane Weber. The goal of this bill is to provide a voluntary incentive opportunity for retailers to stock Montana foods on their shelves, providing a subtraction from individual income and corporate income taxes for the income from Montana-Produced food. The bill will be introduced soon.
We will continue to track bills that impact family farms and ranches and rural communities and keep you informed.
Questions?
Please contact Rachel Prevost at rprevost@montanafarmersunion.com
or Jasmine Krotkov at jkrotkov@montanafarmersunion.com
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Press Information: montanafarmersunion.com/media-press-kit/
MFU President Walter Schweitzer: 406-799-3782
Montana Farmers Union has worked more than 100 years for family farms, ranches, and rural communities. MFU supports its members through: Strong education programs for both youth and adults, by advocating member-driven policies and legislation at the state and federal level, and cooperation through producer-owned co-ops. For more information, visit www.montanafarmersunion.com.
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