The governor pointed out several times that more coal had been mined in Montana during the first three years of his tenure than in the same period for any previous Montana governor. Republicans have accused Bullock of being anti-coal.

“Montana sits on 28 percent of our nation’s coal, and coal will be part of our energy future in any form, in some form, well, well into the future,” Bullock said.

Most recently, Montana coal production has slid dramatically. Montana has produced a million fewer tons of coal each month since last December when compared to numbers from a year earlier, according to the Montana Coal Council. Monthly tonnages have averaged less than 2.5 million tons, the lowest monthly production rates in 17 years.

Cheap natural gas, a global oversupply of coal and concerns about climate change have lowered demand for U.S. coal.

“The world changes and will continue to change,” Bullock said. “There’s a natural resource there that continues to be utilized.”

Billings Republicans who voted against the 2015 infrastructure bill indicated they would support future spending if non-infrastructure projects were excluded. The last bill was one vote short of passage in the House and received overwhelming support in the Senate.