HELENA — For the first time this year, the Montana Legislature has overturned one of Gov. Greg Gianforte’s vetoes.
It takes two-thirds support from both the House and the Senate to enact a bill into law over the governor’s objection. On Friday, the Montana Secretary of State’s Office reported 76 House members and 37 senators had voted to override the veto of House Bill 368.
(Watch the video for the latest on Gianforte's vetoes.)
HB 368, sponsored by Rep. Gary Parry, R-Colstrip, redirects $2 million a year in coal severance tax revenue from the state general fund to a new state account. That money would be saved up, with the goal that it would help Colstrip pay for a water system if the power plants there closes down in the future.
The city’s current system, which draws water from the Yellowstone River, was built by – and still operated by – the owners of the plant. The water is used both in the plants and in the community.
“When the plants go away – and we know people are working hard to get rid of coal – I wanted to make sure Colstrip has the ability to get water at the end of the day,” said Parry.
Parry said, if the city needs to replace one of the existing main water lines, it could cost $80 million. He said HB 368 was a way to get that money ready gradually.
In his veto letter, Gianforte said he appreciated the goal of the bill, but expressed concern that it said the money “may” be used for a water supply, instead of “shall” be used for that purpose.
“When allocating funding to local projects, I believe that funding should come with appropriate sideboards and guardrails,” Gianforte wrote. “Unfortunately, House Bill 368 does not.”
Parry told MTN it was never his intention that the money be used for any other purpose, and he committed to work with the governor during the next legislative session to clarify the language. However, he said he still encouraged lawmakers to override the veto so they could get started immediately on funding the account, instead of waiting two years. He said he’s grateful for the support he got from other lawmakers.
Parry said, if the Colstrip plants remain open – or if there’s a future transition to another type of energy production there, like the small nuclear facilities he’s expressed interest in – the money in the account could be returned to the general fund.
After a legislative session ends, if the governor vetoes a bill that received more than two-thirds support in both chambers, the Secretary of State conducts a mail poll of lawmakers, to see if they want to overturn the veto. So far, 16 of those polls are being conducted. Eight of them are done, and HB 368 was the only one where more than 80 lawmakers voted to override. It takes a minimum of 100 votes for a successful override.
As of Friday, Gianforte has vetoed 39 bills – nine of them coming between June 6 and June 13. In many cases, he’s cited the cost of those bills. All told, the ones he’s vetoed so far have included more than $60 million in annual spending and more than $20 million in one-time spending.
The largest single price tag was Senate Bill 537, from Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, which would have used about $35 million a year in marijuana tax revenue for law enforcement and behavioral health programs.
With the latest round of vetoes, this is not only the most bills Gianforte has rejected from a single session, it’s also more vetoes than the 2019 session – the last time Montana had a Democratic governor and a Republican Legislature.
There are only about a dozen bills from the 2025 session Gianforte hasn’t taken action on yet, but they include several of the biggest: House Bill 2, the $16 billion main state budget bill; House Bill 5, which includes more than $100 million for long-term construction projects; and House Bill 924, which would place hundreds of millions of dollars into a new state trust.
Those bills were officially sent to Gianforte’s desk on June 10. He will have 10 days – until June 20 – to decide whether to sign them, veto them, strike out specific items in a line-item veto or allow them to become law without his signature.
