Montana Title 17. State Finance § 17-7-151. Budget comparison

(1) The budget comparison contrasts appropriations for general government operations in one biennium to those in a different biennium.

(2) In preparing budget comparisons for legislative sessions, the office of budget and program planning and the legislative fiscal division shall compare temporary and statutory appropriations of state resources in the current biennium to temporary and statutory appropriations of state resources in the next biennium.

(3) The office of budget and program planning and the legislative fiscal division shall share the methods used to estimate the amounts of statutory appropriations. If there are differences in estimates of revenue or amounts of statutory appropriations, the legislative fiscal analyst shall explain the differences as part of the independent analysis of the executive budget.

(4) Budget comparisons must include the same attributes and methods of calculation. Items that are not appropriated at the beginning of a biennium, such as budget amendments, supplemental appropriations, and reappropriations, must be included in budget comparisons but must be segregated and indicated as noncomparable items.