Montana State Legislature

Department of Labor and Industry

1
Agency
Overview
2
Organizational
Chart
3
Historical
Overview
4
FY 2020
Deep Dive
5
Studies, Audits
& Legislation
6
Governor's
Budget
7
LFD
Budget Analysis
8
Agency
Materials

The mission of the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) is to promote the well-being of Montana’s workers, employers, and citizens, and to uphold their rights and responsibilities. The Department of Labor and Industry has a number of functions, which in part include:

• Serving as an employment agency, providing job training to assist individuals in preparing for and finding jobs, and assisting employers in finding workers

• Overseeing federal and state training and apprenticeship programs

• Conducting research, collecting employment statistics and collecting, analyzing and providing workforce and career information

• Administering the unemployment insurance program and disbursing state unemployment benefits

• Enforcing state and federal labor standards, anti-discrimination laws, and state and federal safetyoccupational health laws

• Providing adjudicative services in labor-management disputes

• Licensing, inspecting, testing, and certifying all weighing or measuring devices used in making commercial transactions in the State of Montana

• Providing administrative and clerical services to professional boards and occupational licensing programs authorized by state statutes

• Establishing and enforcing minimum building codes

• Administering the federal AmeriCorps, Campus Corps, and Volunteer Montana programs through the Office of Community Services

• Overseeing and regulating the Montana Workers' Compensation system

Below is an organizational chart of the department, including full-time employee (FTE) numbers and the HB 2 base general fund appropriations and the total of all funds. Unless otherwise noted, all phone extensions are preceded by (406) 444.

This report includes a series of charts that compare expenditure growth to the growth in the economy and growth in inflation adjusted for population. Montana statute, 17-8-106, MCA, recommends using growth in personal income for comparison purposes. Personal income is a measure for growth in the economy. Comparing growth allows financial planners to consider past and future demands in services or changes in revenues.

In FY 2010 and FY 2011, Montana received federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. These funds were appropriated by the Legislature in the Montana Reinvestment Act (HB 645) of the 2009 Legislative Session. The Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) received $15.3 million in federal fund spending authority over the biennium for worker and community benefit programs including worker training programs, special assistance to workers displaced by trade activities, re-employment services, job search assistance, funding for community service programs, and funding for the modernization and administration of the Unemployment Insurance Program. That funding was not continued into FY 2012. Federal funding has consistently declined since the funding from the federal stimulus package expired, which in large part explains the low amount of growth for DLI in comparison to population and inflation.

In FY 2014, there was an increase in state special revenue expenditures from the employment security account for the implementation of the Status, Tax Accounting, Audit, & Rating System (STAARS) unemployment insurance tax system.

General Fund

Though the amount of general fund has varied over the last 20 years, the amount of general fund DLI receives is so small that even minor changes in amount of funding account for a large percentage of change in the general fund trend line above. General fund accounts for less than 2.3% of funding for DLI since FY 2002, and general fund currently supports activities within the Commissioner’s Office/Centralized Services Division, the Office of Community Services, and the Employment Relations Division.

State Special Revenue

Most state special revenue used by DLI is from the employment security account (ESA), which generates revenue from an administrative assessment against the payrolls of Montana employers. In addition to the ESA, the department has approximately 50 additional state special revenue accounts. A state special revenue account is maintained for each type of license and professional board in the Business Standards Division (BSD). Charges and fees paid by licensees are deposited into the accounts, and administrative and operational expenses of the BSD are charged directly to the accounts.

DLI’s state special revenue expenditures have increased over the last 20 years. In addition to growing on their own, they have also replaced some federal special revenue sources. In FY 2004, general fund was replaced with ESA funds and back-filled with federal Reed Act funds in the Jobs for Montana Graduates and Displaced Homemakers Programs. The legislature approved funding the Jobs for Montana Graduates with general fund and funded the Displaced Homemaker Program with ESA funds. In FY 2006, the legislature approved a funding switch from the one-time-only distribution of federal Reed Act funds back to general fund and ESA funds. In FY 2008 and FY 2009, the legislature increased ESA funds and reduced federal funds, as a result of passage and approval of HB 790 which changed the ESA employer assessment and state unemployment tax rates.

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Legislative Studies

Economic Affairs Interim Committee work

Audit Reports

Information Systems Audit - Montana Prescription Drug Registry - June 2019

Financial Compliance Audit - Department of Labor & Industry - Nov 2019

See the "Legislation" tab on the Economic Affairs Interim Committee web page

Legislation:

HB 2

HB 13

HB 564, Revise laws relating to lawyers ability to handle real estate transactions

HB 582, Clarify employer limitations in the Montana Medical Marijuana Act

HB 600, Private sector hiring preference for spouses of military members