Montana budget still without Northern biodiesel

Montana budget still without Northern biodiesel

Tim Leeds

Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, said this morning that he will fight to restore funding for Montana State University-Northern's biodiesel research program once the state budget bill hits the Senate.

"That's my pledge, " Windy Boy said this morning from Helena about the bill, which passed its second reading in the House Monday night on a 65-34 vote.

An amendment by Rep. Wendy Warburton, R-Havre, to restore funding to the program failed on a 46-53 vote. Warburton and Reps. Tony Belcourt, D-Box Elder, and Kris Hansen, R-Havre, voted for the amendment to restore the funding, cut from the governor's proposed budget by the appropriations committee.

Warburton and Hansen voted for the entire bill on its second reading. Belcourt voted against it.

Representatives of the university's research program have said some support for the state is crucial for its continued success.

The program has researched the production and use of biodiesel from crops that can be grown locally, including providing fuel for the local transit system and conducting a yearlong test, now nearing completion, on using the fuel in a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway locomotive.

Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, said this morning that he will fight to restore funding for Montana State University-Northern's biodiesel research program once the state budget bill hits the Senate.

"That's my pledge, " Windy Boy said this morning from Helena about the bill, which passed its second reading in the House Monday night on a 65-34 vote.

An amendment by Rep. Wendy Warburton, R-Havre, to restore funding to the program failed on a 46-53 vote. Warburton and Reps. Tony Belcourt, D-Box Elder, and Kris Hansen, R-Havre, voted for the amendment to restore the funding, cut from the governor's proposed budget by the appropriations committee.

Warburton and Hansen voted for the entire bill on its second reading. Belcourt voted against it.

Representatives of the university's research program have said some support for the state is crucial for its continued success.

The program has researched the production and use of biodiesel from crops that can be grown locally, including providing fuel for the local transit system and conducting a yearlong test, now nearing completion, on using the fuel in a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway locomotive.