The session as of May 17
700
House bills introduced
Passed by House
408
Passed by Senate
352
Passed through Governor
335
406
Senate bills introduced
Passed by Senate
284
Passed by House
241
Passed through Governor
230
207
Resolutions and referendum proposals introduced
Passed
134
1,313 total bills and resolutions introduced
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 | Governor Before governor |
| HB 630: Appropriate CARES II funds, supplemental, and temporarily revise ed funding Allocates funding provided by Dec. 2020 COVID-19 stimulus bill | Passed Became Law |
| HB 632: Implement receipt of and appropriate federal stimulus and COVID recovery funds Allocates funding provided by March 2021 American Rescue Plan Act | Passed Became Law |
GOP tax bills
| SB 159: Personal Income Tax Relief Act Reduces rate in the state’s top income tax bracket | Passed Became Law |
| SB 184: Montana Entrepreneur Magnet Act Exempts shareholders of Montana-grown businesses from paying capital gains taxes on stock options | Passed Became Law |
| HB 252: Non-refundable tax credit for employer-paid education of trade professions Tax credits to encourage employer-funded trade education | Passed Became Law |
| HB 303: Revise business equipment tax laws: Business Investment Grows (BIG) Jobs Act Exempts more businesses from paying equipment tax | Passed Became Law |
| HB 340: Revise the MEDIA Act film tax credits Expand tax credits encouraging Montana film productions | Passed Became Law |
| HB 372: Eliminate business equipment tax | Failed Probably Dead |
| SB 376: Corporate tax modernization through double-sales factor apportionment Adjusts how income tax is calculated for multi-state corporations | Passed Became Law |
| SB 399: Generally revise and simplify income taxes Major rewrite of Montana income tax code | Passed Became Law |
| HB 663: Generally revising school funding to increase GTB and lower property taxes | Passed Became Law |
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 Probably Dead |
| HB 424: Revise individual income tax laws Creates new top income tax bracket, expands Earned Income Tax Credit for working families | Failed Probably Dead |
| HB 631: Increase state earned income tax credit Expands Earned Income Tax Credit for working families | Failed Probably Dead |
COVID-19 liability
| SB 65: Revise civil liability laws Protects businesses from some COVID-19-related lawsuits | Passed Became Law |
| HB 435: Generally revise civil liability laws for government Protects public entities from some COVID-19-related lawsuits | Passed Became Law |
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 Probably Dead |
| HB 121: Require elected official approval of local health board and officer actions | Passed Became Law |
| HB 159: Revise governor's power to spend certain unanticipated federal funds Requires legislative involvement in spending large federal relief allocations | Passed Became Law |
| HB 230: Generally revise emergency and disaster laws Lets Legislature weigh in on governor’s emergency declarations | Passed Became Law |
| HB 429: Revise governor's power to suspend election laws during emergency | Passed Became Law |
Broadband internet access
| SB 51: Exempting certain fiber optic, coaxial cable from property taxation Tax incentives intended to spur rural broadband internet development | Passed Became Law |
| SB 297: ConnectMT Act to establish broadband deployment | Passed Became Law |
| HB 422: Authorize municipalities to operate broadband utilities | Failed Probably Dead |
| HB 494: Revise transportation construction law Requires MDT to coordinate with telecom companies about installing broadband during highway projects | Passed Became Law |
Election administration
| SB 169: Generally revise voter ID laws Requires photo ID for voter registration | Passed Became Law |
| HB 176: Close late voter registration on Friday before the election Ends Election Day-voter registration | Passed Became Law |
| SB 319: Generally revise campaign finance laws Restricts signature gathering, voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts on college campuses | Passed Became Law |
| HB 613: Generally revise laws related to tribal voting Seeks to protect voting rights on reservations | Failed Probably Dead |
Health care policy
| HB 43: Expand practice of telemedicine | Passed Became Law |
| SB 101: Provide for the direct patient care safe harbor act Allows healthcare providers to negotiate payment agreements directly with patients | Passed Became Law |
| HB 332: Revise school laws related to vaccinations | Failed Probably Dead |
| SB 374: Revise laws related to dispensing of drugs by medical practitioners Allows medical providers to dispense drugs to patients | Passed Became Law |
| HB 702: Prohibit discrimination based on vaccine status or possessing immunity passport | Passed Became Law |
Labor policy
| SB 89: Revise laws related to collection of union dues Bars public employers from collecting dues for unions via paycheck withholding | Failed Probably Dead |
| HB 168: Generally revise laws related to union fees Requires annual worker consent for union membership | Failed Probably Dead |
| HB 251: Implement right-to-work Requires written consent for union due paycheck deductions | Failed Probably Dead |
Justice policy
| SB 140: Revise laws relating to the judiciary Lets the governor appoint judges to vacancies directly | Passed Became Law |
| SB 215: Establish the religious freedom restoration act | Passed Became Law |
| SB 278: Generally revise civil liability law In part, requires nonprofits challenging government actions to disclose their donor lists | Failed Probably Dead |
| HB 325: Elect supreme court justices by districts Voter referendum to shift away from statewide supreme court elections | Passed Became Law |
| HB 355: Require partisan elections for state, district, local judges | Failed Probably Dead |
| 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 Probably Dead |
Education policy
| HB 15: Implement K-12 Inflation Major school funding measure | Passed Became Law |
| HB 46: Revise special education funding Adds special ed inflationary increases to routine state education budget | Passed Became Law |
| HB 143: Provide incentives for increasing starting teacher pay | Passed Became Law |
| HB 179: Generally revise laws related to community colleges Makes it easier to set up community college districts | Passed Became Law |
| HB 246: Revise education laws to enhance local control and opportunities for pupils Makes K-12 education requirements more flexible | Passed Became Law |
| 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 Became Law |
Natural resource policy
| SB 98: Revising laws related to grizzly bear take in defense of persons and livestock | Passed Became Law |
| HB 224: Allow for the snaring of wolves in Montana by licensed trappers | Passed Became Law |
| SB 267: Authorize reimbursement for wolf trapping and hunting | Passed Became Law |
| HB 302: Require county approval to relocate bison | Passed Became Law |
| SB 314: Revise laws related to wolf harvest | Passed Became Law |
| HB 320: Prohibit sales of federal land transferred to Montana | Failed Probably Dead |
| SB 337: Revising laws related to grizzly bear relocation Prevents FWP from relocating grizzly bears into new areas | Passed Became Law |
| SB 358: Repeal numeric nutrient standards for water quality Loosens nutrient water quality regulations by replacing numeric standards with narrative ones | Passed Became Law |
| HB 468: Allowing hound hunting and chase seasons for black bears | Passed Became Law |
Energy policy
| SJ 3: Provide for a feasibility study of advanced nuclear reactors | Passed Became Law |
| SB 160: Establish Public Service Commission appointments Shifts elected utility board to three-member commission appointed by governor | Failed Probably Dead |
| HB 170: Revise laws to include renewable hydrogen | Passed Became Law |
| SB 176: Generally revise laws related to coal, coal tax, and coal-fired unit remediation Discourages utilities from exiting coal plant operations | Failed Probably Dead |
| HB 273: Eliminate restrictions on nuclear facility development | Passed Became Law |
| SB 379: Generally revise coal-fired generation laws Guarantees NorthWestern Energy funding for coal plants by limiting PSC authority over power bills | Failed Probably Dead |
Firearm regulations
| HB 102: Generally revise gun laws Expands permitless concealed carry, limits gun regulations on college campuses | Passed Became Law |
| HB 258: Revise laws related to firearms, ammunition, and accessories Bars Montana officials from enforcing new federal firearm restrictions | Passed Became Law |
Anti-abortion measures
| HB 136: Establish pain-capable unborn child protection act Broadly restricts abortions after 20 weeks | Passed Became Law |
| 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 Became Law |
| HB 167: Referendum to adopt the Montana Born-Alive Infant Protection Act | Passed Became Law |
| HB 171: Adopt the Montana Abortion-Inducing Drug Risk Protocol Act Requires abortion-inducing medication to be distributed in person | Passed Became Law |
Transgender restrictions
| HB 112: Require interscholastic athletes to participate under sex assigned at birth | Passed Became Law |
| HB 113: Provide for youth health protection Prohibits hormonal treatments and gender surgeries for transgender youth | Failed Probably Dead |
| 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 Became Law |
| HB 427: Provide for youth health protection A slightly narrower version of HB 113 | Failed Probably Dead |
Recreational marijuana implementation
| HB 640: Generally revise marijuana laws Became last-minute effort to shift rec. marijuana implementation | Failed Probably Dead |
| HB 701: Generally revise marijuana laws Main rec. marijuana implementation bill | Through Legislature Passed both chambers |
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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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