Several Montana cities including Missoula could lose out on federal funding if the Office of Management and Budget succeeds in changing what qualifies as a metropolitan statistical area in the U.S.

The proposal, released earlier this week, would increase the population threshold from 50,000 to 100,000 for a city to qualify as a metropolitan area. That could remove Missoula from the list, as well as Great Falls, forcing them to relinquish millions of dollars in federal funding, including revenue targeted for housing.

By Martin Kidston