MISSOULA — Montana State Senators Greg Hertz and Ellie Boldman attended this month’s City Club Missoula, giving a recap on the 2025 legislative session.
Both senators went over what they viewed as the biggest topics of the session on Monday.
“These are the big things we passed. Balanced budget. We're going to talk about that — the Trust Act. [And] major property tax relief,” said Sen. Boldman, a Democrat from Missoula.
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“With my remaining few minutes," joked Montana Senator Greg Hertz, a Republican from Polson, as he had the majority of his time left, "we'll talk about property taxes. So, on your tables, there's three handouts. You can look at those. That provides some information," he continued, pulling out sheets breaking down the property taxes of Montana.
Besides property taxes and the budget — which Sen. Hertz argued is not a balanced budget as it is only balanced until 2027 — there was also the Medicaid expansion.
“Of course, the big issue, Medicaid expansion, which is now not, we don't have to reauthorize it anymore. We did it in 2015, 2019, and now, finally, I think we're done with that conversation,” Sen. Boldman.
“It's the first time I voted for Medicaid expansion in any session. You know, it's proven to work out there and I think it's something we continue to need,” said Sen. Hertz.
But both legislators agreed that it was not a perfect session.
“It was probably one of the more frustrating sessions I've been in. There was just a lot going on. Obviously, the issue with former President Ellsworth just took up a massive amount of our time,” said Sen. Hertz.
“Some of the rhetoric and negativity, I think, sometimes can become a little too partisan and unnecessary,” noted Sen. Boldman.
Overall, the senators said that while the session was a little chaotic, they thought there was ultimately success in several hot topic issues — including housing, property taxes and Medicaid expansion.
However, they both mentioned that there will be plenty of work to be done in the future and with the potential of federal cuts to Medicaid, there may be the need to come back for a special session to address whatever may be coming down the line.
