State of Montana

Recovery Plan 

State and Local Fiscal Recovery 

Funds

2021 Report 

August 31, 2021
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 1

State of Montana

2021 Recovery Plan

Table of Contents

General Overview......................................................................................................................2

Executive Summary.................................................................................................................2

Uses of Funds .........................................................................................................................3

Promoting Equitable Outcomes ...............................................................................................6

Community Engagement .......................................................................................................10

Labor Practices .....................................................................................................................12

Use of Evidence ....................................................................................................................13

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category.........................................................................14

Project Inventory.....................................................................................................................14

Project 1 ...............................................................................................................................14

Project 2 ................................................................................................................................15

Ineligible Activities: Tax Offset Provision ............................................................................17
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 2

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Executive Summary 

In this section, provide a high-level overview of the jurisdiction’s intended and actual uses of 

funding including, but not limited to the jurisdiction’s plan for use of funds to promote a response 

to the pandemic and economic recovery, key outcome goals, progress to date on those outcomes, 

and any noteworthy challenges or opportunities identified during the reporting period.

When ARPA became law in March of 2021, the Montana Legislature, which meets 90 days every 

two years, was in session. The House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance 

Committee held joint public hearings and, working with the Governor’s Office, drafted HB 632 and 

SB 297 , which became law in Montana in late April and early May of 2021, respectively, after the 

legislature adjourned. House Bill 632 appropriated the ARPA funds that were to be distributed to 

the state, including the State Fiscal Recovery (“SFR”) Funds, and both laws set forth a framework 

for their use, with Senate Bill 297 focusing on broadband infrastructure.

House Bill 632 established four advisory commissions (“Advisory Commissions”) consisting of 

legislators from both chambers and political parties, and members appointed by the Governor: 

Infrastructure; Communications; Economic Transformation and Stabilization, and Workforce 

Development (“Economic and Workforce”); and Health. It further provided that for nearly all SFR 

funds, executive branch departments will recommend programs and projects to the Advisory 

Commissions, the Advisory Commissions will make recommendations to the Governor, and the 

Governor will approve final uses. Early in the reporting period, departments began taking public 

comment through a centralized web portal and call center. All Advisory Commissions began 

meeting during the reporting period, receiving public comment at each meeting. 

House Bill 632 also requires departments to develop plans to measure the effectiveness of 

programs they administer funded with ARPA funds. In addition, it requires many project applicants 

to state the anticipated outcomes of their project and how they expect to achieve them.

The uses of the SFR Funds and the goals and outcomes of those uses will develop as the 

Advisory Commissions continue to meet and make recommendations over the months to come. 

Two noteworthy challenges have been: the time it has taken to receive guidance from the U.S.

Department of the Treasury; and some of the provisions that have been contained in that guidance 

that were not anticipated at the time the Montana Legislature was considering HB 632 and SB 

297.
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 3

Uses of Funds

Describe in further detail your jurisdiction’s intended and actual uses of the funds, such as how 

your jurisdiction’s approach would help support a strong and equitable recovery from the COVID19 pandemic and economic downturn. Describe any strategies employed to maximize 

programmatic impact and effective, efficient, and equitable outcomes. Given the broad eligible 

uses of funds and the specific needs of the jurisdiction, explain how the funds would support the 

communities, populations, or individuals in your jurisdiction. 

Many uses of State Fiscal Recovery (“SFR”) Funds have yet to be determined. Before the exact 

amount of Montana’s share of SFR Funds was known, HB 632 appropriated those SFR Funds 

and linked them to the respective Advisory Commissions, in parentheses, as follows:

1. $462,689,925 for water and sewer infrastructure projects (Infrastructure), including:

a. $150,000,000 for minimum allocation grants to towns, cities, and counties;

b. $250,000,000 for competitive grants to local governments, including Tribal 

Governments;

c. $10,000,000 to regional water authorities; and

d. The balance for administrative costs, and water and sewer infrastructure projects 

that were already before the legislature,

2. $275,000,000 for broadband infrastructure projects (Communications),

3. $150,000,000 for economic transformation and stabilization, and workforce development 

grants (Economic and Workforce),

4. $15,000,000 for nursing home and hospital-based swing bed payments (Health),

5. $2,750,000 for a provider rate study (Health); and 

6. $944,721 to streamline the resolution of family law cases impacted by the pandemic (not

linked to an advisory commission).

During the reporting period, the $15M appropriation for nursing facility payments was required to 

be distributed by HB 632. In addition, the Economic and Workforce Advisory Commission 

recommended, and Governor Gianforte approved, $15M for unemployed workers who return to 

work. Finally, the Economic and Workforce Advisory Commission recommended the following 

categories for program development: affordable housing, workforce development, value-added

agriculture, and business innovation.

The uses that have been identified to date will help support a strong economic recovery. While 

Montana has posted the third best employment recovery among states since the start of the 

pandemic, Montana faces a shortage of available workers and a smaller labor force. One-time 

SFR Fund uses such as return-to-work bonuses, affordable housing, and workforce development 

(including rapid retraining mandated by HB 632), as well as childcare stabilization considered by 

the Health Advisory Commission will help Montanans return to the workforce. In addition, 

substantial investments in water and sewer infrastructure, broadband infrastructure, value-added 

agriculture, and business innovation will help support a strong recovery in both the short and long 

terms.

The uses that have been identified to date also employ certain strategies to maximize 

programmatic impact, and effective and efficient outcomes. To the extent possible, Montana is 

using existing programs to deploy its funds. For example: Montana is using the same 

programmatic framework to administer water and sewer infrastructure grants that it uses to 

administer Clean Water and Drinking Water Revolving Loan Funds; the Economic and Workforce 
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 4

Advisory Commission recommended that affordable housing grant proposals focus on affordable 

housing projects already in the state’s development pipeline; and the emergency rental assistance 

funding and numerous public health funding streams are flowing through existing state programs. 

Existing programs reduce development time and bureaucratic redundancy, and mature programs 

generally are administered more efficiently. In addition, in the areas of water and sewer 

infrastructure and broadband infrastructure, HB 632 and SB 297 incentivize local governments 

and other stakeholders to contribute matching funds to the projects, maximizing their impact. 

Using funds for a provider rate study to determine the impact of COVID on providers and make 

recommendations to adjust rates, if necessary, to properly reimburse for costs, will help Montana

ensure that provider rates are high enough to be effective, but not so high as to be inefficient.

The uses that have been identified to date also employ certain strategies to maximize equitable 

outcomes, including an equitable recovery. Montana has several underserved, marginalized 

and/or groups adversely affected by COVID to be served by these uses, including low-income 

people, Native Americans, individuals in rural areas, unemployed and underemployed, and 

seniors. Many individuals in these groups overlap. For example, many Native Americans live on 

Montana’s seven reservations which are predominantly rural, and which often experience higher 

rates of unemployment and poverty than other areas, and which were adversely affected by 

COVID. Those uses and strategies include affordable housing, workforce development (including 

rapid retraining), and return-to-work bonuses for the unemployed. 

In addition, HB 632 allocated $150M to towns, cities, and counties for minimum allocation water 

and sewer infrastructure grants based on the state’s fuel tax allocation formula. The formula is 

more beneficial to rural areas than allocating solely based on population, because the fuel tax 

formula also considers the number of road miles in an area. House Bill 632 also allocated 

$750,000 to create a Montana Department of Commerce (“DOC”) technical assistance team to 

notify local governments, with an emphasis on rural local governments, of the water and sewer 

infrastructure opportunities even though Tribal Governments received their own allocation of 

ARPA funds, HB 632 broadened the definition of “local government” to include Tribal 

Governments to be eligible to apply for competitive water and sewer grants. House Bill 632 and 

SB 297 emphasize frontier, unserved, and underserved areas for broadband service. Many of 

those areas are in rural Montana, including Native American reservations. Seniors were 

particularly adversely affected by COVID. To address the economic needs of the facilities caring 

for many seniors, HB 632 allocated $15M to those facilities. 

Many of the uses and strategies of other ARPA funding streams will also benefit one or more of 

these groups to maximize equitable outcomes and support an equitable recovery. Those include 

use of the Emergency Rental Assistance funds and use of many of the funding streams 

administered through the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (“DPHHS”)

which are eligible to low-income people.

Departments administering the ARPA programs are proactively communicating with all Tribal 

Governments encouraging participation in these programs.
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 5

Address how you are promoting each of the following Expenditure Categories, to the extent they 

apply: 

Uses and intended uses of SFR Funds identified during the reporting period for each Expenditure 

Category are set forth on the following page.

a. Public Health (EC 1)

Montana quickly distributed $15M to nursing facilities which experienced economic harm 

during the COVID pandemic as they worked to prevent and mitigate infections in their 

facilities. Also, the water and sewer infrastructure program will provide wastewater services

and clean drinking water to many communities.

In addition to uses funded with SFR funds, many other ARPA funding streams flowing 

through DPHHS will promote public health in Montana.

b. Negative Economic Impacts (EC 2)

Uses and intended uses that respond to the negative economic impacts of COVID are similar 

to the uses that have been identified to date that will help support a strong recovery, set forth 

above. Those uses include nursing facility payments, return-to-work bonuses, affordable 

housing and workforce development (including rapid retraining mandated by HB 632), as well 

as other non-SFR ARPA funds such as childcare stabilization, all of which will help address 

Montana’s worker shortage. The healthcare provider rate study will help ensure that service 

providers, in a post-COVID environment, are reimbursed appropriately for services provided 

to low-income and other groups. In addition, substantial investments in water and sewer 

infrastructure, broadband infrastructure, value-added agriculture, and business innovation 

will help support a strong recovery over the longer term.

In addition to uses funded with SFR funds, many other ARPA funding streams flowing 

through DPHHS, and funding streams flowing through DOC such as Emergency Rental 

Assistance, Homeless Assistance, Homeowner Assistance, and the State Small Business 

Credit Initiative will help respond to the negative economic impacts of COVID.

c. Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities (EC 3)

Uses and intended uses that provide services to disproportionately impacted communities, 

such as low-income, senior, and unemployed Montanans, include affordable housing, 

nursing facility payments, and return-to-work bonuses as well as many other ARPA funding 

streams flowing through DPHHS and DOC.

d. Premium Pay (EC 4) 

During the reporting period, no uses of SFR Funds for premium pay to any special class of 

employees were identified.

e. Water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure (EC 5) 

The sizeable investments in HB 632 of SFR funds for water and sewer infrastructure, and 

broadband infrastructure are discussed earlier in this section.
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 6

f. Revenue Replacement EC 6)

During the reporting period, no uses of SFR Funds for revenue replacement were identified.

Where appropriate, include information on your jurisdiction’s use (or planned use) of other federal 

recovery funds including other programs under the American Rescue Plan such as Emergency 

Rental Assistance, Housing Assistance, and so forth, to provide broader context on the overall 

approach for pandemic recovery. N/A

Promoting equitable outcomes 

In this section, describe efforts to date and intended outcomes to promote equity. Each annual 

report to follow must provide an update, using qualitative and quantitative data, on how the 

recipients’ approach achieved or promoted equitable outcomes or progressed against equity 

goals during the performance period.

Describe efforts to promote equitable outcomes, including how programs were designed with 

equity in mind. Include how your jurisdiction will consider and measure equity at the various stages 

of the program, including: 

a. Goals: Are there particular historically underserved, marginalized, or adversely 

affected groups that you intend to serve?

Programs funded with SFR Funds identified during the reporting period will serve rural, 

Native American, low-income, unemployed, and senior groups.

b. Awareness: How equal and practical is the ability for residents or businesses to become 

aware of the services funded by the SLFRF? 

During the reporting period, Montana took and will continue to take significant steps to 

make residents and businesses aware of the services funded by SFR Funds. In 

addition, steps were taken to make sure residents and businesses were aware of other 

ARPA programs available through other departments, including Emergency Rental 

Assistance and many programs administered by the DPHHS.

Many of those steps are set forth in the Community Engagement section of this report, 

below.

Regarding the two programs funded with SFR Funds during the reporting period: 1) the 

nursing facility payments were made directly the eligible nursing homes and hospitals 

so those businesses are aware of the funding, and the senior residents of those 

facilities should all be benefiting from the services provided; and 2) those unemployed 

as of May 4, 2021 were made aware of the opportunity to receive a return-to-work 

bonus because of press accounts the previous week and emails sent to eligible 

individuals notifying them of this opportunity. Additionally, DLI is conducting phone call 

outreach to individuals in areas and demographics most difficult to reach or serve or 

which have high unemployment.
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 7

c. Access and Distribution: Are there differences in levels of access to benefits and 

services across groups? Are there administrative requirements that result in disparities 

in ability to complete applications or meet eligibility criteria? 

Tribal Governments and some local governments were given additional notice of some 

SFR Fund funded program opportunities and assistance to enhance their access to 

program benefits, as set forth in the Community Engagement section of this report, 

below.

d. Outcomes: Are intended outcomes focused on closing gaps, reaching universal levels 

of service, or disaggregating progress by race, ethnicity, and other equity dimensions 

where relevant for the policy objective? 

Many programs identified during the reporting period will help close gaps in various 

equity dimensions. SFR Funds are insufficient to reach universal levels of service.

The Water and Sewer Infrastructure Program will help close the gap in clean water and 

drinking water between communities with higher and lower needs by evaluating 

affordability in the competitive grant ranking process. The Broadband Program will help 

close the gap between frontier, unserved and underserved communities, and other 

communities. The Affordable Housing Program, together with the non-SFR funded 

Emergency Rental Assistance program and Mortgage Assistance program, will help 

close the immediate and longer-term gap in housing between low-income and other 

Montanans. The workforce, value-added agriculture, and business innovation 

programs will provide more good-paying jobs and help workers develop the skills 

necessary to do them. The healthcare provider rate study will help ensure that service 

providers, in a post-COVID environment, are reimbursed appropriately for services 

provided to low-income and other groups.

It is Montana’s intent that all citizens have equal access to available benefits and 

programs, if eligible, regardless of race, ethnicity, geographic location, income level, or 

other factors.

Describe how your jurisdiction’s planned or current use of funds prioritizes economic and 

racial equity as a goal, names specific targets intended to produce meaningful equity results 

at scale and articulates the strategies to achieve those targets. Explain how your jurisdiction’s 

overall equity strategy translates into the specific services or programs offered by your 

jurisdiction in the following Expenditure Categories: 

a. Negative Economic Impacts (EC 2): assistance to households, small businesses, and

non-profits to address impacts of the pandemic, which have been most severe among

low-income populations. This includes assistance with food, housing, and other needs;

employment programs for people with barriers to employment who faced negative

economic impacts from the pandemic (such as residents of low-income 

neighborhoods, minorities, disconnected youth, the unemployed, formerly 

incarcerated people, veterans, and people with disabilities); and other strategies that 

provide disadvantaged groups with access to education, jobs, and opportunity. 
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 8

The uses of ARPA funds identified by Montana during the reporting period addressed 

economic equity in several ways. Non-SFR Funds funded programs, planned and/or 

funded, include but were not limited to enhanced SNAP benefits, Commodity 

Supplemental Food benefits, enhanced childcare, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) 

voucher increase, Low Income Home Energy Assistance increase, Low Income Water 

Assistance increase, Pandemic Emergency Assistance, Emergency Food and Shelter 

assistance, Emergency Rental Assistance, Homeless Assistance, and Homeowner 

Assistance.

Identified uses of SFR Funds will also address economic equity. More affordable 

housing will provide more living opportunities for low-income individuals and families. 

Rapid retraining will help those currently unemployed or underemployed quickly meet 

the qualifications for available jobs. Other workforce training programs will help 

workers, including workers from disadvantaged groups, develop their skills for good 

paying jobs. Value-added agriculture and business innovation programs will help 

create more good-paying jobs in the Montana. 

Allocating $150M in water and sewer infrastructure grants to all towns, cities, and 

counties, in part based on road miles and not just population, will ensure that rural 

communities, including Native American reservations, which tend to have a higher 

percentage of low-income individuals than urban communities, will be better able to 

address clean water and drinking water challenges. Even though Tribal Governments 

received their own ARPA allocations, HB 632 allows Tribal Governments to apply for 

competitive water and sewer infrastructure grants, along with local governments. 

Providing funds to upgrade broadband service in frontier, unserved, and underserved 

communities will provide greater connectivity to rural communities, including Native 

American reservations, improving health, education, work, and economic 

opportunities.

Montana’s largest minority group is Native Americans who make up about 7% of the 

state’s population. Many Native Americans live on the state’s seven reservations and 

are governed by Tribal Governments. The reservations are located in rural areas of 

the state and they tend to have more low-income and unemployed people impacted 

by COVID. Thus, the planned and current use of ARPA funds discussed in the 

paragraphs above to prioritize economic equity will also help provide opportunities to 

Native Americans.

Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities (EC 3): services to address health

disparities and the social determinants of health, build stronger neighborhoods and communities 

(e.g., affordable housing), address educational disparities (e.g., evidence-based tutoring, 

community schools, and academic, social-emotional, and mental health supports for high poverty 

schools), and promote healthy childhood environments (e.g., home visiting, child care). 

Seniors were disproportionally impacted by COVID. In Montana, congregate care facilities serving 

seniors have taken substantial steps to keep their residents safe, increasing their costs and, to 

ensure adequate social spacing, limiting their number of occupants and resulting revenue. House 

Bill 632 provided $15M to nursing homes and hospitals with swing beds to allow those facilities 

to continue to provide safe care to the state’s seniors.
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 9

During the reporting period, the Economic and Workforce Advisory Commission recommended 

affordable housing as a category for program development. Although not SFR Funds, the Health 

Advisory Commission recommended, and Governor Gianforte approved, ARPA childcare funds 

for childcare stabilization to include providing application assistance, building provider capacity, 

providing technical assistance, and offering business professional development. Additionally, 

subgrants will be administered by DPHHS to the extent allowable by federal guidance to: 

• Prioritize subgrant funds to serve as enhanced payments for childcare businesses that 

expand hours or capacity to serve more children.

• Prioritize subgrant funds as enhanced payments for childcare businesses, including 

Family, Friend, and Neighbor caregivers in childcare deserts.

• Prioritize subgrant funds as enhanced payments for childcare businesses that serve 

unique populations such as children with disabilities, infants and toddlers, and low-income 

families. 

• If federal guidance allows, require applications to be accepted from those provider types 

that are not licensed under the state, but can assure that all federal health and safety 

requirements, including background checks, are met. This could include Family, Friend, 

and Neighbor caregivers and church based childcare programs. 

• Require childcare businesses to dedicate a higher percentage of their subgrant to 

personnel to support recruitment and retention bonuses, pursuant to federal guidance. 

• Assess opportunities for Montana to contract with childcare provider(s) to serve state 

employees, their families, and others depending on capacity, and utilize stabilization and 

recovery funding accordingly.

Finally, childcare funds were authorized to expand childcare and development block grant uses 

to fund innovative solution grants; to provide targeted business specialized training, professional 

development, and technical support to early childhood small businesses; to implement business 

process and regulation improvement recommendations; to pilot Childcare Resource & Referral

services in northeastern/eastern Montana; to provide temporary child care assistance prioritized 

for certain health care sector employees; and to provide for direct workforce supports for staff in

child care facilities.

Native Americans were disproportionally impacted by COVID. Accordingly, Governor Gianforte 

prioritized Native Americans for vaccination in Phase 1B of the state vaccination rollout, following 

frontline healthcare workers. Strong efforts through funding and personnel have continued to be 

made to increase the number of vaccinations, and those efforts have intensified with the passage 

of ARPA and implementation of HB 632. Governor Gianforte approved the recommendations of 

the ARPA Health Advisory Commission for funding of programs aimed at improving the 

vaccination rate, especially in the state’s disproportionate areas of impact, which includes Native 

American reservations. In addition, departments are proactively communicating with Tribal 

Governments encouraging participation in ARPA programs.

Describe your jurisdiction’s efforts to date and intended outcomes to promote equity using 

qualitative and quantitative data on how the jurisdiction’s approach achieved or promoted 

equitable outcomes or progressed against equity goals. Describe any constraints or challenges 

that impacted project success in terms of increasing equity. 

House Bill 632 requires departments to develop plans to measure the effectiveness of programs 

they administer funded by ARPA funds. In addition, it requires many project applicants to state 

the anticipated outcomes of their project and how they expect to achieve them. Departments must 
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 10

require periodic reports from the applicants to provide information necessary, including 

quantifiable data, for the departments to confirm that applications achieved the intended 

outcomes.

Describe the geographic and demographic distribution of funding, including whether it is targeted 

toward traditionally marginalized communities.

The two largest allocations of SFR Funds in HB 632 targeted high-need and frontier, unserved, 

and underserved communities which tend to be rural communities, including Native Americans

reservations. The Montana Legislature allocated $150M to towns, cities, and counties, in part 

based on road miles as well as population. Even though Tribal Governments received their own 

ARPA allocations, HB 632 allows Tribal Governments to apply for competitive water and sewer 

infrastructure grants, along with local governments. Broadband funds are targeted at frontier, 

unserved and underserved communities. 

The two programs funded during the reporting period also targeted groups with specific needs. 

Nursing facility payments were distributed based on the number of Medicaid patient days each 

facility had during 2020, to ensure funds were distributed to where the greatest need for care for 

poor seniors exists. Return-to-work bonus payments were targeted at those who were 

unemployed on May 4, 2021.

Community Engagement 

Describe how your jurisdiction’s planned or current use of funds incorporates written, oral, and 

other forms of input that capture diverse feedback from constituents, community-based 

organizations, and the communities themselves. Where relevant, this description must include 

how funds will build the capacity of community organizations to serve people with significant 

barriers to services, including people of color, people with low incomes, limited English proficiency

populations, and other traditionally underserved groups. 

Montana conducted and will continue to conduct public outreach and seek public input to 

determine uses for SFR Funds.

During the 2021 legislative session, multiple subcommittees of the Montana Legislature 

conducted days of hearings on ARPA and HB 632 inviting public comment. Public comment 

continued during hearings before the full House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees.

House Bill 632 required the Secretary of State to provide a copy of the law to every federally

recognized tribe in the state.

Within weeks of the passage of HB 632 and SB 297, Montana created an integrated web portal 

at www.arpa.mt.gov and a call center to provide information about ARPA and to solicit and receive 

comments and questions. During the reporting period,17,345 contacts were made. All questions 

were responded to and comments were reviewed by the administering department, and, if related 

to the work of one of the four ARPA Advisory Commissions, were shared with that Advisory 

Commission.

Advisory Commissions have met, most multiple times, during the reporting period. At each 

meeting, public comment was solicited generally and on each program proposal. The Economic 

and Workforce Advisory Commission, which has the broadest scope of purpose, put forth broad 
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 11

use concepts and specifically solicited public comment up to and during the next meeting where 

those concepts were again discussed. 

Departments have also reached out to and received comments from the public, including specific 

stakeholders, to provide information, technical assistance, and receive input. To implement the 

substantial water and sewer infrastructure program:

• DOC, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (“DNRC”), and the 

Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) notified local governments, with an 

emphasis on rural local governments and Tribal Governments, of the program with 

outreach led by the technical assistance team at DOC. Those departments advertised 

the program at training events such as the Montana Rural Water Conference, the 

Midwest Assistance Program, and the American Water Resources Association. They 

also worked with the Montana League of Cities and Towns and the Montana 

Association of Counties to distribute information about the program to their members 

and through large distribution lists that included: communities, engineering firms that 

represent communities, and conservation districts. The departments also specifically 

reached out to communities plagued by safe drinking water and wastewater violations 

to make them aware of the program.

• The DOC is offering local governments limited engineering assistance and DOC, 

DNRC, and DEQ assisted local governments with the application process. They also 

provided direct training to members of the Montana Association of Conservation 

Districts and the Montana Water Resources Association.

• Beyond the reporting period, DOC, DNRC, and DEQ will continue providing trainings 

and targeted outreach to communities across the state, particularly those that are 

traditionally underserved and/or have a history of noncompliance with the Safe 

Drinking Water Act or Clean Water Act to encourage and assist them to apply through 

the program.

The Department of Agriculture participated in listening sessions across the state to better 

understand the negative economic conditions facing agricultural producers. Staff attended eight 

Summer Field Days at the Montana Agricultural Experiment Stations and conducted Value-Added 

Roadshow visits in different production regions to solicit input.

DPHHS has received input from dozens of stakeholder organizations across the state on COVIDrelated issues and suggestions on how SFR and other ARPA funds can be used to address them.

For the Emergency Rental Assistance program, DOC consulted with the Montana Landlord 

Association, Montana Legal Services Association, NeighborWorks Montana, the Montana 

Housing Coalition, and numerous other partner organizations for input on program design. In 

addition, DOC executed a contract with NeighborWorks Montana to deploy a technical assistance 

and outreach network of approximately a dozen community-based organizations throughout the 

state to assist renters and landlords with the online application process and conduct outreach for 

the program. A marketing firm was engaged for robust marketing efforts, including social media, 

radio, TV, and digital marketing. Advertising included targeted ad placements in rural markets 

with smaller circulation newspapers and higher concentrations areas of potentially eligible lowincome renters. These marketing efforts were amplified with DOC earned media and social media 

efforts with the NeighborWorks Montana technical assistance and outreach network. 
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 12

For the Homeowner Assistance Fund program, DOC worked with the state Banking Division to 

engage Montana non-depository mortgage servicers for needs assessment data and to inform 

them of the open public comment period for the draft Homeowner Assistance Fund plan. DOC 

also reached out to mortgage servicer contacts made during administration of the 2020 CARES 

Act CRF Emergency Housing Assistance Program, the NeighborWorks Montana Homeownership 

Counseling Network, and the Montana Legal Services Association. A homeowner survey was 

deployed at www.arpa.mt.gov for direct consumer feedback. 

The Department of Labor and Industry (“DLI”) formed a workforce working group made up of 

representatives from various sectors of business, educational, and employee organizations to 

receive input on workforce development programs. A second workforce working group has also 

been formed addressing health and human services related occupations, and includes affected 

parties.

Departments administering the ARPA programs are proactively communicating with all Tribal 

Governments encouraging participation in these programs.

Montana has also engaged a public relations firm to provide both general and targeted public 

outreach to ensure Montanans are aware of the resources and programs available to them funded 

by SFR Funds and other ARPA funds. General outreach will go to all Montanans, primarily 

through internet and social media, to promote awareness of www.arpa.mt.gov. Other outreach 

through a wide range of mediums will target low-income and other disadvantaged Montanans and 

Montana communities. That outreach will be informed by census, geographic, poverty, and other 

data to target potential program recipients.

All this public input has and continues to inform how Montana has used and will plan to use its 

SFR Funds.

Labor Practices 

Describe workforce practices on any infrastructure projects being pursued (EC 5). How are 

projects using strong labor standards to promote effective and efficient delivery of high-quality 

infrastructure projects while also supporting the economic recovery through strong employment 

opportunities for workers? For example, report whether any of the following practices are being 

utilized: project labor agreements, community benefits agreements, prevailing wage 

requirements, and local hiring.

The Montana Procurement Act, Title 18, Chapter 4- part 1, MCA, requires fairness and 

transparency in awarding state contracts. Additionally, projects that are public works contracts 

must contain prevailing wage requirements and a preference for local hiring under the 

contract. Section 18-2-403, MCA. 

The intent of the Montana Prevailing Wage law is to:

• protect local labor markets,

• maintain the general welfare of Montana workers on public works projects,

• eliminate wage cutting as a method of competing for public contracts,

• maintain wages and rates paid on public works at a level to attract highly skilled laborers 

performing quality workmanship, and

• prevent the rate of wages from adversely affecting the equal opportunity of Montana 

contractors to bid on public works.
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 13

To ensure compliance with the law, DNRC and the Montana Department of Administration 

(DOA) will require information on project labor agreements as a reporting requirement for 

all subawards. DNRC and DOA will also require information on community benefit agreements 

as a reporting requirement for all subawards.

Further, Montana requires that contracts for public works projects include provisions for 

posting prevailing wages through a certified payroll. A certified payroll is a copy of the weekly 

payroll which the employer has signed to affirm that:

1. The payroll is correct and complete;

2. The job classifications conform with the work performed by the worker; and

3. Wages paid are not less than the applicable rates contained in the wage rate schedule.

Montana will require prevailing wages and certified payroll reporting for all subawards.

Projects that are state construction projects funded by state or federal funds must ensure under 

the contract that at least 50% of the workers on the project will be bona fide Montana residents in 

accordance with 18-2-409, MCA. DNRC and DOA will require certification and reporting on local 

hiring for all subawards. Further, public works contracts must include a provision requiring the 

contractor to give preference to Montana residents in hiring per 18-2-403, MCA.

Use of Evidence 

Identify whether SLFRF funds are being used for evidence-based interventions and/or if projects 

are being evaluated through rigorous program evaluations that are designed to build evidence.

Specifically, in this section, recipients should describe their overall approach for using evidence 

and evaluation, including how a Learning Agenda (either narrowly focused on SLFRF or broadly 

focused on the recipient’s broader policy agenda) could support their overarching evaluation 

efforts in order to create an evidence-building strategy for their jurisdiction. However, detailed 

evidence information for each project should be included in the Project Inventory. 

House Bill 632 requires departments administering programs funded by ARPA to develop plans 

to measure the effectiveness of the programs. In turn, departments must require applicants to 

state what they intend to accomplish if selected to receive funding. To the extent that the 

departments are able to determine generally applicable outcomes to determine the effectiveness 

of proposals submitted by applicants, departments must require applicants to state how they will 

achieve those outcomes. Departments may also require applicants to state the outcomes that

should be used to determine the effectiveness of their proposals and how they will achieve those 

outcomes. However, individual applicants participating in certain training programs funded by 

SFR Funds are exempt from this requirement. 

Departments must require periodic reports from the applicants to provide information, including 

quantitative data, necessary for the departments to confirm that applicants achieved the intended 

outcomes. These steps will allow Montana to collect data and review the effectiveness of the 

programs and projects.
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 14

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category

In this section, list the amount of funds used in each Expenditure Category. The table should 

include cumulative expenses to date within each category, and the additional amount spent within 

each category since the last annual Recovery Plan.

Category Cumulative

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent 

since last 

Recovery Plan

2 Expenditure Category: Negative Economic 

Impacts

2.6 Unemployment Benefits or Cash Assistance to 

Unemployed Workers

$163,200 $163,200

2.12 Aid to Other Impacted Industries $15,000,000 $15,000,000

7 Administrative and Other

7.1 Administrative Expenses $74,108 $74,108

7.4 Transfers to Nonentitlement Units 

(States and Territories only)

$43,056,980 $43,056,980

Project Inventory 

In this section, jurisdictions should provide a description of each project undertaken. Incorporate 

project details as well as evidence and performance measure information outlined in the relevant 

sections above. This information should be replicated for all the jurisdiction’s projects.

Project 1

Project [ 1]: Return-to-Work Bonus Initiative

Funding amount: $15,000,000

Project Expenditure Category: [2.6, Unemployment Benefits or Cash Assistance to 

Unemployed Workers]

Project overview

• A description of the project that includes an overview of the main activities of the project, 

the approximate timeline, primary delivery mechanisms and partners, if applicable, and 

intended outcomes. 

The Return-to-Work bonus initiative offers $1,200 payments to individuals receiving 

unemployment benefits as of May 4, 2021, who subsequently accept employment and 

complete at least four weeks of work by no later than October 31, 2021.The intended 

outcome is for workers to reenter the workforce.

• Link to the website of the project if available https://montanaworks.gov/rtw

• How project contributes to addressing climate change (for infrastructure projects under 

EC 5) N/A
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 15

Use of Evidence

• Briefly describe the goals of the project, and whether SLFRF funds are being used for 

evidence-based interventions, the evidence base for the interventions, and/or if projects 

are being evaluated through rigorous program evaluations that are designed to build 

evidence. If a recipient is conducting a program evaluation in lieu of reporting the amount 

of spending on evidence-based interventions, they must describe the evaluation design.

The goal of the project is to ease a critical labor shortage across Montana. Montana’s 

unemployment rate was down to 3.8% in March, and the state’s workforce is more than 

10,000 smaller than it was pre-pandemic. Montana will use the New Hire database and 

quarterly wage reporting records to verify that employees returned to work. The state will 

capture statistics regarding the number of individuals who return to work through the 

program from unemployment as well as statistical and demographic information related to 

the individuals.

Through July 2021, approximately 3,000 individuals had applied for the bonus and 

approximately 2,000 appear to be eligible to receive the benefit. Other factors may impact 

the effectiveness of the bonus, including the rise in COVID variants may impact safety 

perceptions while at the same time, the return of children to school may offer a solution to 

the childcare dependency that limited some individuals’ ability to work.

• Identify the dollar amount of the total project spending that is allocated towards evidencebased interventions for each project in the Public Health (EC 1), Negative Economic 

Impacts (EC 2), and Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities (EC 3) 

Expenditure Categories. $0

Project 2

Project [2]: Nursing Facility Payments

Funding amount: $15,000,000

Project Expenditure Category: [2.12, Aid to Other Impacted Industries]

Project overview

• A description of the project that includes an overview of the main activities of the project, 

the approximate timeline, primary delivery mechanisms and partners, if applicable, and 

intended outcomes. 

The Nursing Facility Payments will be paid to nursing homes and hospitals with swing 

beds to respond to reduced revenue from fewer residents and the additional costs 

associated with the COVID public health emergency. Funding was allocated to existing 

facilities based on the number of Medicaid bed days in calendar year 2020.

• Link to the website of the project if available N/A

• How project contributes to addressing climate change (for infrastructure projects under 

EC 5) N/A
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 16

Use of Evidence

• Briefly describe the goals of the project, and whether SLFRF funds are being used for 

evidence-based interventions, the evidence base for the interventions, and/or if projects 

are being evaluated through rigorous program evaluations that are designed to build 

evidence. If a recipient is conducting a program evaluation in lieu of reporting the amount 

of spending on evidence-based interventions, they must describe the evaluation design 

(see Reporting Guidance for additional details that should be included). 

The goal is to ensure nursing homes and hospitals with swing beds have the financial 

resources to continue to provide quality care for the state’s most vulnerable citizens. 

Measurable outcomes include, but are not limited to, increasing occupancy ratios, 

increasing average star rating of Montana nursing homes, ensuring nursing home 

payments from DPHHS remain under cost, reporting monthly data by all participating 

nursing homes, and ensuring all infection control tags receive technical assistance from 

the state’s quality assurance organization.

• Identify the dollar amount of the total project spending that is allocated towards evidencebased interventions for each project in the Public Health (EC 1), Negative Economic 

Impacts (EC 2), and Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities (EC 3) 

Expenditure Categories. $0

Performance Report

• For the Project Inventories in Section 8, include key performance indicators for your 

jurisdiction’s major SLFRF funded projects. Report key performance indicators for each 

project, or group projects with substantially similar goals and the same outcome 

measures. Jurisdictions may choose to include some indicators for each individual project 

as well as crosscutting indicators. Include both output and outcome measures. 

The key performance indicators for the two individual projects are set forth in their 

inventories above. The goal of incentivizing Montanans to return to the workforce by 

providing financial incentives will be measured by the number of individuals returning to 

the workforce both by those who were unemployed and those who had previously exited 

the workforce. The goals of the Nursing Facility Payments will be measured in terms of 

occupancy ratios, staff retention, and infection control.

• In addition, you must include the mandatory performance indicators if your jurisdiction has 

projects in the relevant areas (this information may be included in each recipient’s 

Recovery Plan as they determine most appropriate). Provide data disaggregated by race, 

ethnicity, gender, income, and other relevant factors, if possible. Data should be 

presented in a table and each annual report should include updated data for the 

performance period as well as prior period data.

a. Household Assistance (EC 2.2 & 2.5) and Housing Support (EC 3.10-3.12): 

• Number of people or households receiving eviction prevention services 

(including legal representation) N/A

• Number of affordable housing units preserved or developed N/A
[State of Montana] 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 17

b. Negative Economic Impacts (EC 2): 

• Number of workers enrolled in sectoral job training programs N/A

• Number of workers completing sectoral job training programs N/A

• Number of people participating in summer youth employment programs N/A

c. Education Assistance (EC 3.1-3.5): 

• Number of students participating in evidence-based tutoring programs N/A

d. Healthy Childhood Environments (EC 3.6-3.9): 

• Number of children served by childcare and early learning (pre-school/preK/ages 3- 5) N/A

• Number of families served by home visiting N/A

Ineligible Activities: Tax Offset Provision (States and territories only)

For the initial reporting year, States and territories will report the following items related to the Tax 

Offset Provision 31 CFR 35.8. Baseline revenue or revenue-increasing covered charges are not 

required at this time.

Item Amount

a. Revenue-reducing Covered Changes $0