State SupCo hears arguments in Gianforte veto of pot tax case

Jonathan Ambarian

(KPAX) It happens every two years: the Montana Legislature passes a bill, the governor vetoes it, and the bill dies. But in one case after the 2023 legislative session, a bill in that situation got tied up in a months-long legal battle that has finally reached Montana’s highest court.

On Friday morning, the Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the long-running case centering on Senate Bill 442 . As they do several times a year, justices took this hearing outside their normal chambers – holding it at the Delta Hotels Helena Colonial during the State Bar of Montana’s annual meeting.

SB 442, sponsored by then-Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta, would have redirect some state marijuana tax revenues to help fund county rural road projects and increase funding to wildlife h