Tester Priorities to Bolster Montana Housing Supply, Support Law Enforcement and Firefighters, and Protect Public Lands Clears Key Senate Hurdle

Key Tester provisions cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee as part of annual government funding bill

U.S. Senator Jon Tester joined his colleagues this week in passing the Fiscal Year 2025 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Agencies Appropriations Act; and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act through the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

As a senior member of the Committee, Tester secured critical funding and priorities in the government funding bill to bolster housing supply across Montana, protect public lands, support Montana and Tribal law enforcement, and back wildland firefighters. 

“Montanans expect their elected officials to fight for rural America and work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to do what’s best for our state,” said Tester. “That’s why I’m proud to have secured key, bipartisan provisions that will help address housing shortages across our state, protect Montana’s public lands, support local and Tribal law enforcement, and do right by our brave firefighters. I’ll continue working to make sure these commonsense Montana priorities make it across the finish line.”

Housing provisions backed by Tester include:

• Invests in the HOME Investment Partnership Program which is a grant initiative for state and local government to increase the availability of affordable workforce housing
• Invests in the Community Development Block Grant Program to provide assistance to state and local governments in support of neighborhood revitalization, housing rehabilitation, and community and economic development
• $10 million for the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) initiative to protect Montanans in manufactured housing communities from losing their homes to out of state investors
• $100 million for the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program to help state and local governments increase the supply of affordable workforce housing
• $168 million for Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks)
• $70 million for Self Help and Assisted Homeownership Program (SHOP) allowing for more sweat equity homeownership programs where homebuyers participate in the building of homes to keep costs down
• $15 million for HUD-Veterans Affairs supportive housing

Public lands and environmental provisions backed by Tester include:

• Montana specific land acquisition funding through Tester’s LWCF: 
  • $7.5 million for Lolo National Forest land acquisition 
  • $1.74 million for Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest land acquisition 
  • $1.6 million for Kootenai National Forest land Acquisition 
  • $7 million for Blackfoot River Watershed Land Acquisition
  • $10.2 million for the Stimson Timberland Legacy
  • $1.5 million for the Rocky Mountain Front
• $68.8 million for Partners for Fish and Wildlife
• $13.2 million for the National Wildlife Refuge Fund
• $49 million for the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund
• $52.3 million for the North American Waterfowl Management Plan/ Joint Venture Program
• $546 million for the Hazardous Substance Superfund program 
• $27 million for the Brownfields Projects 
• $46.75 million for the Brownfields grant programs
• $600 million to fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program 

Tester Support for Clean Water in Montana:

• $2 million in EPA funding to monitor and manage transboundary pollution between the United States and British Columbia, including the Kootenai watershed
  • Includes language directing USGS to formally partner with the Tribes, States, and Federal agencies to develop a water quality strategy and directing EPA to support the U.S.-Canada joint reference to the International joint Commission to reduce and mitigate transboundary water pollution.  
• $1.638 billion for Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $1.126 billion for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
• $32.7 million for technical assistance for competitive grants for qualified non-profit organizations for clean and safe drinking water in rural and small communities
• $2 million to maintain water source safety and security research in rural communities in the Upper Missouri River Basin

Transportation provisions backed by Tester include:

• $15 million for the Small Community Air Service Development Program
• $423 million for the Essential Air Service
• $1.5 million in new funding for technical assistance for rural transit
• $550 million for the RAISE Grant program. When combined with the $1.5 billion in Tester’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) advanced appropriations, the RAISE Grant program would see $2.05 billion in total funding in fiscal year 2025

Provisions to support law enforcement and public safety backed by Tester include:

• $720 million for the Byrne JAG Program to assist state and local law enforcement agencies
• $548 million for Community Oriented Policing Services, which includes $257 million for the COPS Hiring Program, and $46 million for Regional Information Sharing Activities
  • Includes language expressing concerns about the difficulties faced by small and understaffed department, especially in rural communities, when applying for federal grants and urges the DOJ to improve requirements for COPS grants so that more small and understaffed departments can utilize this funding
• $610 million in grant funding to help state and local communities in the fight against the epidemic of fentanyl, meth, and other illegal drugs
• $739.5 million for the Office of Violence Against Women and VAWA programs, including $53 million for transitional housing assistance and $53 million for rural VAWA programs
• $1.9 billion for the Crime Victims Fund to provide services to survivors of domestic violence and other crimes
• $45 million for Victims of Crime Abuse Act grants, a $4 million increase over FY24
• $95 million for Drug Courts and $35 million for Veterans Treatment Courts

Provisions to support Tribal law enforcement and healthcare facilities backed by Tester include:

• $572.8 million for Public Safety and Justice initiatives in Indian Country, including Tribal law enforcement, Tribal courts, and Tribal detention and corrections facilities
• $95 million for the Crime Victims Fund Tribal Set-Aside
• $55.79 million for Public Safety and Justice Construction, a $10 million increase over FY24
• $142 million for BIA Detentions/Corrections
• $283 million for Criminal Investigators and Police Services
• $35.5 million for Tribal Justice Initiatives
• $26 million for Tribal Law Enforcement Special Initiatives, which includes a $250,000 increase for the MMIW Tribal Public Safety Initiative.
• $5.2 billion for the Indian Health Service, a $263 million increase over FY24
• $4.9 billion in advance appropriations for FY26 for the IHS

Firefighter provisions backed by Tester include:

• Language establishing a permanent pay fix and job series for federal wildland firefighters and provides full funding to meet these obligations, incorporating the Tester’s Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2023
• $4.145 billion for wildfire suppression across DOI and the Forest Service
• $2.438 billion for Wildland Fire Management
• $8 million for firefighter housing
• $3 million for university-led research on fire management (CA-MT FIRE Partnership)

Provisions to support Montana’s Tech Hub backed by Tester include:

• $100 million for Regional Tech and Innovation Hubs, a $59 million increase over FY24
• $9.5 million for CHIPS and Science Act implementation

Additional appropriations provisions secured by Tester in the Fiscal Year 2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and the Agriculture Appropriations Act which cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this month can be found HERE.