Expensive wildfire season triggers proposed budget cuts that would hurt rural Montana

Proposed cuts to Montana's budget would cripple safety net services in rural Montana, Oscar Peña writes in an opinion column for the Montana Standard. Peña is the public policy coordinator of the Montana Food Bank Network.

After an expensive wildfire season, state legislators now have two choices: "accept nearly 10% cuts to every state agency, or have a special session and attempt to pass revenue-generating legislation to defray some of the cuts," Peña writes. Some rural areas are already reeling after the fires caused a reduction in recreation and tourism spending.

One proposal is to close 19 of the state's 37 Offices of Public Assistance, which provide in-person help for people applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or Medicaid. All 19 affected offices serve rural Montana, where resources are already scarce. "Despite being rural communities, these offices serve a significant number of Montanans with nearly 19,500 SNAP participants in these counties alone," Peña writes.

If the offices are closed, seniors, the poor, and rural residents would lose a critical resource, and remaining offices would be overwhelmed, he says.