HB504 expands the state's Livestock Loss Mitigation Program to include domestic bison. Previously, compensation for livestock losses due to predators like wolves, mountain lions, and grizzly bears was limited to traditional livestock such as cattle, swine, and horses. With this legislation, domestic bison producers are now eligible for financial assistance when their animals are killed by these predators.
The Montana State Senate passed HB504 on April 8, 2025 by a vote of 44 to 4. We have assigned pluses to the nays because, as President Grover Cleveland stated in his 1887 veto message for the Texas Seed Bill, “I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering…. Though the people support the Government the, Government should not support the people.” HB504, like the Texas Seed Bill, seeks to use taxpayer money to compensate for local hardships—in this case, predator-related losses to domestic bison. While such losses are unfortunate, it is not the proper role of government to provide relief for every misfortune. Solutions to these challenges should come from the private sector, voluntary associations, and insurance markets—not from expanding state subsidies that shift personal risk onto the public.
