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Over the past few months, lawmakers in Helena have introduced and debated an array of proposals impacting the flow of state funding to Montana’s K-12 public schools. The slate of bills has nearly outpaced the unprecedented flurry of education policy seen in 2023, and speaks to a seemingly endless list of needs — some long-standing, some new — vying for space in, or influence over, the state’s two-year budget.

By far the biggest-ticket item to appear before this week’s transmittal break is the high-profile , which cleared the House in late February with strong bipartisan support and will make its Senate debut after the break. The measure, , would direct $100 million in new education funding requested by Gov. Greg Gianforte toward salary increases for early career teachers statewide. The bill, spearheaded by , would also increase state funding to school districts based on the number of postsecondary or career-technical education credits earned by their high school graduates.

As much attention as the STARS Act has attracted, other lawmakers are pursuing education funding requests or adjustments of their own. One such bill from , seeks to spend $500,000 from the state’s General Fund to support mental health initiatives at local schools. , which would route that funding through a pilot program to be overseen by Montana’s Office of Public Instruction, passed an initial vote in the House in late February and is awaiting action by the House Appropriations Committee. 

“Our students continue to face an undeniable mental health crisis,” Romano told the House Education Committee in mid-February. “Anxiety, depression, bullying and stress are affecting their ability to learn, thrive and succeed in school. HB 385 is not just another education initiative. I believe it’s a lifeline for our children.”

Romano also proposed a measure to align per-pupil state payments for 6th graders in certain districts with rates for other middle-school grades, a change she argued would more accurately reflect the costs associated with middle-school instruction. comes with an estimated annual price tag of $13 million and, like HB 385, is now awaiting a vote by House Appropriations. Another Romano proposal, to broaden Montana’s early childhood literacy program to , does not call for additional state funding, but a related bill from , that programming would increase state spending by an estimated $4 million a year.

Other lawmakers are similarly looking to leverage existing law with no-cost tweaks to address unmet needs. , is proposing to direct unspent funds from a loan assistance program for starting teachers to licensed educators in other districts. would continue to prioritize teachers working in special education cooperatives, rural districts and tribal communities, but would charge the Office of Public Instruction with distributing any leftover funds to educators in districts that don’t meet current criteria. The bill cleared the House March 5 with bipartisan support.

On the instructional front, , aims to create a second phase of state grants tailored to proficiency-based learning. Bedey told �ԹϺ��� this month that the existing “transformational learning” grants, established in 2019, were designed to inspire districts to create localized learning models that could be exported statewide. Bedey’s , which passed the House on a 92-7 vote March 7, would identify up to five districts with promising approaches and boost the programs’ funding for their efforts.

“We’ve planted seeds, and some things really took root well. The [state] superintendent will be responsible for identifying those and then providing amped-up funding to them so that they can go from a concept phase to a development phase,” Bedey said, adding that part of HB 573 calls for OPI to facilitate collaboration among the selected districts.

Asked about other significant public school investments currently on his policy plate, Bedey — who chairs the Legislature’s education budget subcommittee — pointed to his request for funding to help OPI secure high-quality instructional materials that align with state content standards. , which comes with a $5 million one-time appropriation for the agency to secure such materials and make them available to local districts, passed the House Appropriations Committee in late February. 

Meanwhile, Jones’ STAR Act isn’t the only measure aimed at improving the flow of state and local funding to public schools. Bedey is also carrying , which would replace the existing system of district-specific levies with countywide levies, a move he believes will more evenly distribute the local tax burden. Also, , has introduced with the goal of allowing school districts in the same county to share the costs of certain programs, equipment and other educational resources. HB 156 made it to the Senate in early February, while HB 567 cleared the House just days ahead of the March 7 transmittal deadline.

Beyond the STARS Act, one of the most impactful proposed changes under consideration this session is , sponsored by , which proponents have dubbed the “Right Back Act.” Sprunger’s bill seeks to build on that altered Montana’s approach to equalizing funding between districts based on their taxable wealth. The previous session’s work directed excess collections from those “95 mills” to offset local contributions to teacher retirement, but quickly drew opposition from county governments that sued the state in an effort to cap the collections at a time when property values were skyrocketing. The Montana Supreme Court ruled in the state’s favor in November 2023.

According to Montana School Boards Association Executive Director Lance Melton, HB 483 would give lawmakers greater control in adjusting equalization rates when property values are reappraised, increasing their ability to mitigate impacts on property tax payers. To illustrate the tax-base disparities that drive the need for equalization, Melton calculated the amounts generated by the 95 mills in two Montana districts. In Lame Deer, he said, the 95 mills generate roughly $16,000, while in Ennis — a slightly smaller-population district — they generate roughly $3 million. Melton argued that Sprunger’s proposal will improve the state’s process of equalizing the local costs of education and ensure that any excess generated by the 95 mills will help alleviate other local taxes, such as voter-approved over-BASE levies, which enable districts to adopt budgets above the minimum requirements set in state law.

“Let’s say that this ride’s not over and that the 95 mills continues to produce higher amounts of revenue,” Melton said. “This mechanism ensures that we’re going to take care of the countywide [teacher] retirement levies first until the state’s funding about 70% of that, and then it’s going to turn to the over-BASE levies, which is big enough, unfortunately, that for the foreseeable future the 95 mills will be devoted to reducing local property taxes for voted levies.”

The 2025 session may be half over, but the debate over HB 483 has only just begun. The bill made it out of the House Taxation Committee with strong support in late February, but, as an appropriations bill, it’s subject to a later deadline for transmittal to the Senate and has not yet had a hearing in House Appropriations.

Melton noted that while HB 483 stands on its own, it also works in tandem with several other pieces of proposed legislation aimed at improving education funding without unduly burdening local tax systems. One such proposal is , a Gianforte-backed bill that would lower taxes on primary residences while increasing rates on second homes and short-term Airbnb-style rentals. Another measure on the horizon is from , to increase the state’s share of funding for major maintenance projects in local schools. 

And then there’s , which has already cleared its first committee vote in the Senate. That bill — a legislative staple from session to session — would adjust the amount the state allocates to schools to account for inflation. This time around, lawmakers have opted to approve a 3% increase in each of the coming two years, adhering to a cap that many argue state law requires. But there’s already been bipartisan support for a proposal allowing the Legislature to exceed that cap in the future if lawmakers determine inflation rates will be higher. , sponsored by , passed the House March 1 on an 88-9 vote.