House Bill No. 9 establishes priorities for cultural and aesthetic project grant awards in Montana and appropriates funds for these grants. The Montana Arts Council is tasked with awarding grants for specific projects, with a total of $953,500 allocated from the cultural and aesthetic projects trust fund account for the biennium ending June 30, 2027. Additionally, $30,000 is appropriated to the Montana Historical Society for the care and conservation of Capitol complex artwork. The bill mandates that grant recipients must acknowledge support from the coal tax in their promotional materials.

The bill also includes provisions for the reversion of unencumbered grant balances back to the trust fund on July 1, 2027, and outlines that if the trust fund is insufficient to meet the appropriation levels, reductions will be made on a pro rata basis for projects exceeding $2,000 in funding. Notably, several organizations have had their funding amounts adjusted, with some being deleted from the list of grant recipients, while others, such as the Alpine Theatre Project, have had their funding increased. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2025.