Montana began this session with a $2.5 billion surplus—but is now projected to end with a $1 billion deficit. What happened?

In this episode, Senate President Matt Regier and Senate Finance and Claims Chair Carl Glimm break down House Bill 2, the state’s main budget bill. They explain how spending increased dramatically after nine Republican legislators joined Democrats to pass key funding measures, effectively giving Democrats the majority needed to push through higher spending.

Now, with Montana’s Constitution requiring a balanced budget, the conservative majority is calling on Governor Gianforte to use his line-item veto power to bring spending back under control and fulfill the legislature’s constitutional duty.

Senate Pro Tem Kenneth Bogner sits down with Senator Daniel Zolnikov to break down a powerful package of bills aimed at protecting Montanans’ most personal data—your brainwaves, your DNA, your devices. From digital rights to the “freedom to compute,” they lay out how Montana is leading the charge for real privacy in the age of big tech and foreign threats.

Senator Becky Beard sits down with Kendall Cotton, Founder of the Frontier Institute, to discuss Montana’s education funding system — what’s working, what’s not, and how we can build a better path forward. From school zoning to funding formulas, they unpack the challenges students face today and explore ideas to make the system more fair, flexible, and focused on student success.