Legislative staff pilot a tool linking program inventories to budget data to give lawmakers deeper program detail

Legislative staff on Wednesday introduced a pilot project to link the state's program inventory system with the budgeting database so legislators can see spending and staffing at a bureau or unit level rather than only by division.

Katie Gunther, Office of Budget and Program Planning staff, told the Section A interim budget committee the project responds to direction from the House Bill 834 Government Data and Impact Commission and aims to show what each functional area does, whether a function is required by statute or administrative action, who benefits and what outputs and outcomes are produced. The tool will display most recent fiscal year expenditures, positions budgeted (PB) and proposed budget amounts for the 2027 biennium.

"What this project is doing is taking those two data systems and saying let's connect those in a way that may be helpful for you as legislators as you're making decisions about the budget," Gunther said.

The pilot will rely on the program inventory system (sometimes called EPSI) plus the standard budgeting database. Gunther said the approach will use reporting level 3 (the program or functional area) where feasible so the data are detailed enough to be useful but not so granular that it becomes distracting.

Committee members asked whether the accounting system is uniform across agencies and how "orgs" map to functional areas. Gunther said Montana uses a common accounting system but agencies set up internal "orgs" to track expenditures differently; mapping those orgs to the budgeting system is a core part of the work.

Quinn Holzer, assistant director of the Legislative Fiscal Division, framed the pilot as a step toward performance‑based budgeting. He cited examples and models from other states (New Mexico, Utah, Tennessee) and the SMART Act reporting that requires agencies to submit annual strategic plans and performance reports. Holzer said the pilot will not replace the office's budget analysis but will provide an on‑demand tool for legislators to "dig a little deeper."

"If this works for you as the legislature and you like this information and you want to move forward with it, here's the next step we can do for the next session," Gunther said.

Gunther invited member feedback on the right level of detail and said staff will reconvene with agencies after the interim to refine the mapping and presentation. The pilot will appear in materials for upcoming interim sessions and staff hope to present a more polished product by June for committee consideration.

The committee did not take formal action; staff will incorporate feedback and return with refinements.