state budget

Helena Industries, a non-profit which provides services for hundreds of people in with disabilities is closing, and plans to file for bankruptcy in the wake of state budget cuts to Medicaid programs.

Helena Industries provides job training, work opportunities and case management services for people in Helena, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, and Anaconda.

Governor Steve Bullock has rejected a budget bailout offer from the state’s only private prison in exchange for a revised and extended contract to house Montana’s inmates.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Sinopah House will be converted to a group home for adults with developmental disabilities. Fox Creek will serve adults with mental illness.

The only group home in the Flathead Valley that offered therapy specifically tailored to abused and traumatized girls shut its doors last Friday, the latest casualty of state-level budget cuts.

A committee of legislative finance leaders got good news on the state budget Monday. After a derailment of state finances leading to a special session last November, the latest budget report from the Legislative Fiscal Division indicates indicates that state finances are improving.

However, there’s nothing the legislative committee can do to reverse the budget cuts made this winter.

Ongoing budget cuts mean the State of Montana has ended a contract that paid a big health insurance company $6 million a year to manage Medicaid recipients. That’s more than twice as much as it allocates to the state health department for similar work.