House lawmakers and agency officials told the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on an initial hearing that House Bill 11 would channel interest from the coal severance tax into local infrastructure grants, rural bridge repairs and regional water systems.

Representative John Fitzpatrick, House District 76, the bill sponsor, told the committee the Montana Coal Endowment Program is administered by the Department of Commerce and “basically funds 3 kinds of activities.” He said the program provides grants up to $750,000 for units of local government for water and wastewater systems, includes bridge funding for counties and supports regional water projects.

The bill, Fitzpatrick said, reached the Senate with two changes made on the House side: an Arlee Water System application was removed after the applicant did not appear at the subcommittee hearing, and a Petroleum County bridge project was withdrawn and replaced in the ranking by a Missoula County bridge project. “All of the rank ordering that was done was done here by the Department of Commerce,” Fitzpatrick said.

Galen Steffens, community development division administrator at the Montana Department of Commerce, and Autumn Coleman, deputy administrator for the Conservation and Resource Development Division at the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, both testified they administer or review the programs and answered committee questions.

Local officials urged the committee to reinstate a removed Arlee application. Charles Hedley, general manager for Arlee’s water and sewer system, and Mary Stranahan, president of the Arlee Sewer Board, described decades of deferred maintenance on the system, a recent preliminary engineering review supported by ARPA funds and a current lagoon issue they say prevents community growth. “It needs to be put from facultative to aerated to allow for more tribal community growth,” Hedley said. Stranahan said the district has secured some matching funds and pledged stewardship of any awarded money.

Missoula County Chief Administrative Officer Chris Lounsbury thanked the committee for including roughly $500,000 to support the Styler Drive West bridge in Condon and said the county is providing a dollar‑for‑dollar match.

Committee members questioned why the Petroleum County bridge was removed; Fitzpatrick said the applicant withdrew, likely because it could not secure the required 1:1 match. Jason Harlow of the Governor’s Budget Office was available to answer fiscal questions.

Fitzpatrick closed by urging the committee to add Arlee back into the bill: "I encourage you to go ahead and put the Arley Water System back in," he said.

No formal committee action or vote occurred during the hearing; staff and proponents said they were available to respond to follow‑up questions and to supply additional documentation if the committee considers amendments.