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HB 654 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Increase access to early literacy targeted intervention programs

HB 654 aims to support and expand early literacy targeted intervention programs within school districts. The bill clarifies how school districts can count students participating in these programs, including those offered in partnership with community organizations, for Average Number Belonging (ANB) calculations, which affects state funding. It also proposes creating a temporary grant program to help districts establish or expand classroom-based early literacy intervention initiatives.
Issues: ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesBill creates temporary grant program for early literacy interventions, directly impacting state funding allocation through ANB calculations and school finance appropriations.95% confidence ✓ EducationSupports EducationBill creates temporary grants to expand early literacy programs and clarifies ANB calculations to increase state funding for participating students, directly advancing educational access and school funding.95% confidence
Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 21, 2025 Last action May 20, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

LC1610.pdf → HB0654_1.pdf · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill number was updated from LC 1610 to HB 654.1, and the list of sponsors was expanded to include additional legislators. The substantive text of the education laws regarding Average Number Belonging (ANB) calculations and early literacy programs remains unchanged.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged as the core legislative text is identical to the previous version.
TECHNICAL

The bill identifier was changed from LC 1610 to HB 654.1, and the header was updated to reflect 'House Bill' instead of 'Legislative Committee'.

The list of primary sponsors was expanded to include additional legislators (J. Seckinger, B. Close, P. Elverum, S. Fyant, C. Neumann, J. Weber, J. Sooktis, A. Griffith, D. Powers, M. Cunningham, S. Rosenzweig, E. Matthews, F. Smith, M. Fox, D. Baum, M. Cafarro, B. Carter, J. Cohenour, T. France, D. Hawk, J. Karlen, C. Keogh, E. Kerr-Carpenter, K. Kortum, C. Pope, M. Romano, E. Stafman, K. Sullivan, M. Thane, P. Tuss, Z. Zephyr, M. Marler, S. Demarois, D. Joy, C. Fitzpatrick, and J. Lynch).

The previous version's specific sponsor list was replaced by the new, expanded list.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
21
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Amendments
1
Mar 28, 2025
Amended
(H) Tabled in Committee - (H) Education
lower
Feb 22, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Education
lower
Feb 21, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Becky Edwards
Becky Edwards
DDemocratic
MT
61