The Montana House decided Friday, January 11 to change the way that the Montana budget is assessed for the state's many programs.

"What republicans decided to do is instead of starting at the past budget plus inflationary increases is to reverse that role and start at the past budget and then move forward from there," explains Montana State House Speaker Mark Blasdel.

Some have claimed that this shift in budget projections could cause a shortfall for many programs that are in need of funds.

"That's going to be their opportunity to come to the subcommittee and the appropriations committee and be able to explain their need for increased spending," says Blasdel. "It just gives the appropriations committee a little more opportunity to analyze every increase and be accountable to the taxpayers."

With the once standard inflationary increases cut from programs across the board, nearly all program budgets are effectively the same as they were at the beginning of 2012.

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