The 2021 Montana Legislature was in session from Jan. 4 to April 29.
1,313
Measures introduced
1,106
Bills introduced
573
Became law
194
Resolutions introduced
131
Passed
13
Ballot measure proposals introduced
3
Passed
How bills move through the Legislature
Key bills
Major legislation identified by MTFP reporters. Where ambiguous, official bill titles are annotated with plain language summaries.
Major budget bills
| HB 2: General Appropriations Act Primary state budget bill | Passed |
| HB 630: Appropriate CARES II funds, supplemental, and temporarily revise ed funding Allocates funding provided by Dec. 2020 COVID-19 stimulus bill | Passed |
| HB 632: Implement receipt of and appropriate federal stimulus and COVID recovery funds Allocates funding provided by March 2021 American Rescue Plan Act | Passed |
GOP tax bills
Democratic tax alternatives
| SB 10: Providing for circuit breaker income tax credit for property taxes paid Creates a property tax “circuit breaker” credit to lighten tax burden on lower-income residents | Failed |
| HB 424: Revise individual income tax laws Creates new top income tax bracket, expands Earned Income Tax Credit for working families | Failed |
| HB 631: Increase state earned income tax credit Expands Earned Income Tax Credit for working families | Failed |
COVID-19 liability
| SB 65: Revise civil liability laws Protects businesses from some COVID-19-related lawsuits | Passed |
| HB 435: Generally revise civil liability laws for government Protects public entities from some COVID-19-related lawsuits | Passed |
Emergency power
| SB 108: Authorize elected official approval of city/county health board rules Allows citizens to petition for repeal of local health board actions | Failed |
| HB 121: Require elected official approval of local health board and officer actions | Passed |
| HB 159: Revise governor's power to spend certain unanticipated federal funds Requires legislative involvement in spending large federal relief allocations | Passed |
| HB 230: Generally revise emergency and disaster laws Lets Legislature weigh in on governor’s emergency declarations | Passed |
| HB 429: Revise governor's power to suspend election laws during emergency | Passed |
Broadband internet access
| SB 51: Exempting certain fiber optic, coaxial cable from property taxation Tax incentives intended to spur rural broadband internet development | Passed |
| SB 297: ConnectMT Act to establish broadband deployment | Passed |
| HB 422: Authorize municipalities to operate broadband utilities | Failed |
| HB 494: Revise transportation construction law Requires MDT to coordinate with telecom companies about installing broadband during highway projects | Passed |
Election administration
| SB 169: Generally revise voter ID laws Requires photo ID for voter registration | Passed |
| HB 176: Close late voter registration on Friday before the election Ends Election Day-voter registration | Passed |
| SB 319: Generally revise campaign finance laws Restricts signature gathering, voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts on college campuses | Passed |
| HB 613: Generally revise laws related to tribal voting Seeks to protect voting rights on reservations | Failed |
Health care policy
| HB 43: Expand practice of telemedicine | Passed |
| SB 101: Provide for the direct patient care safe harbor act Allows healthcare providers to negotiate payment agreements directly with patients | Passed |
| HB 332: Revise school laws related to vaccinations | Failed |
| SB 374: Revise laws related to dispensing of drugs by medical practitioners Allows medical providers to dispense drugs to patients | Passed |
| HB 702: Prohibit discrimination based on vaccine status or possessing immunity passport | Passed |
Labor policy
| SB 89: Revise laws related to collection of union dues Bars public employers from collecting dues for unions via paycheck withholding | Failed |
| HB 168: Generally revise laws related to union fees Requires annual worker consent for union membership | Failed |
| HB 251: Implement right-to-work Requires written consent for union due paycheck deductions | Failed |
Justice policy
| SB 140: Revise laws relating to the judiciary Lets the governor appoint judges to vacancies directly | Passed |
| SB 215: Establish the religious freedom restoration act | Passed |
| SB 278: Generally revise civil liability law In part, requires nonprofits challenging government actions to disclose their donor lists | Failed |
| HB 325: Elect supreme court justices by districts Voter referendum to shift away from statewide supreme court elections | Passed |
| HB 355: Require partisan elections for state, district, local judges | Failed |
| HB 685: Revise judicial standards laws Constitutional referendum to give Judicial Standards Commission direct power to discipline judges and make a majority of members non-attorneys appointed by governor | Failed |
Education policy
| HB 15: Implement K-12 Inflation Major school funding measure | Passed |
| HB 46: Revise special education funding Adds special ed inflationary increases to routine state education budget | Passed |
| HB 143: Provide incentives for increasing starting teacher pay | Passed |
| HB 179: Generally revise laws related to community colleges Makes it easier to set up community college districts | Passed |
| HB 246: Revise education laws to enhance local control and opportunities for pupils Makes K-12 education requirements more flexible | Passed |
| HB 279: Revise laws related to tax credit scholarship and innovative education programs Raises tax credit cap on private school scholarship donations to $200,000 | Passed |
Natural resource policy
| SB 98: Revising laws related to grizzly bear take in defense of persons and livestock | Passed |
| HB 224: Allow for the snaring of wolves in Montana by licensed trappers | Passed |
| SB 267: Authorize reimbursement for wolf trapping and hunting | Passed |
| HB 302: Require county approval to relocate bison | Passed |
| SB 314: Revise laws related to wolf harvest | Passed |
| HB 320: Prohibit sales of federal land transferred to Montana | Failed |
| SB 337: Revising laws related to grizzly bear relocation Prevents FWP from relocating grizzly bears into new areas | Passed |
| SB 358: Repeal numeric nutrient standards for water quality Loosens nutrient water quality regulations by replacing numeric standards with narrative ones | Passed |
| HB 468: Allowing hound hunting and chase seasons for black bears | Passed |
Energy policy
| SJ 3: Provide for a feasibility study of advanced nuclear reactors | Passed |
| SB 160: Establish Public Service Commission appointments Shifts elected utility board to three-member commission appointed by governor | Failed |
| HB 170: Revise laws to include renewable hydrogen | Passed |
| SB 176: Generally revise laws related to coal, coal tax, and coal-fired unit remediation Discourages utilities from exiting coal plant operations | Failed |
| HB 273: Eliminate restrictions on nuclear facility development | Passed |
| SB 379: Generally revise coal-fired generation laws Guarantees NorthWestern Energy funding for coal plants by limiting PSC authority over power bills | Failed |
Firearm regulations
| HB 102: Generally revise gun laws Expands permitless concealed carry, limits gun regulations on college campuses | Passed |
| HB 258: Revise laws related to firearms, ammunition, and accessories Bars Montana officials from enforcing new federal firearm restrictions | Passed |
Anti-abortion measures
| HB 136: Establish pain-capable unborn child protection act Broadly restricts abortions after 20 weeks | Passed |
| HB 140: Requiring the provision of information before the performance of an abortion Requires medical providers to offer patients an ultrasound before an abortion | Passed |
| HB 167: Referendum to adopt the Montana Born-Alive Infant Protection Act | Passed |
| HB 171: Adopt the Montana Abortion-Inducing Drug Risk Protocol Act Requires abortion-inducing medication to be distributed in person | Passed |
Transgender restrictions
| HB 112: Require interscholastic athletes to participate under sex assigned at birth | Passed |
| HB 113: Provide for youth health protection Prohibits hormonal treatments and gender surgeries for transgender youth | Failed |
| SB 280: Revise vital statistics laws regarding sex designation on birth certificate Requires a person to obtain surgery and a court order in order to update the gender on their birth certificate | Passed |
| HB 427: Provide for youth health protection A slightly narrower version of HB 113 | Failed |
Recreational marijuana implementation
| HB 640: Generally revise marijuana laws Became last-minute effort to shift rec. marijuana implementation | Failed |
| HB 701: Generally revise marijuana laws Main rec. marijuana implementation bill | Passed |
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More information about this guide is available here. Reach data reporter Eric Dietrich with questions, comments or bug reports for this project at edietrich@montanafreepress.org.
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