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House rejects senate changes to petition‑gatherer disclosure bill, sends measure to conference committee
Summary
Lawmakers voted to not concur in Senate amendments to House Bill 201, preserving the House's requirement that paid petition circulators verbally disclose they are paid and wear badges; the matter was sent to a free conference committee.
The Montana House on Wednesday voted to not concur in Senate amendments to House Bill 201 and directed the matter to a free conference committee, preserving the House’s intent to require paid petition signature gatherers to disclose compensation.
Representative Mitchell, who led the floor discussion, described the bill as aimed at disclosure for paid initiative circulators: “What this bill does is it makes it so any paid petition signature gatherer within the state…would disclose verbally and with the badge that they are being compensated as a worker and then also the state that they legally reside in,” he said. Mitchell criticized a Senate amendment he said “gutted the intent” by changing the approach and urged sending the dispute to a conference committee.
Why it matters: The change affects how initiative petition circulators identify themselves to signers — a matter proponents framed as simple disclosure to improve transparency and opponents rejected as overreach. The Secretary of State’s office had sought specific language changes, including adding the individual’s name to the badge, and asked that the issue go to a conference committee.
Floor action and outcome: The House voted 52 in favor of the motion to not concur and 47 opposed; the clerk recorded the vote as 52–47. After the vote, the House leadership moved and the Speaker appointed a free conference committee to meet with a like committee from the Senate. The appointed House members were Representative Mitchell, Representative Love and Representative Running Wolf.
Next steps: The conference committee will negotiate differences between House and Senate language. If the committee reaches agreement, the unified text would return to both chambers for final approval; if not, the bill could fail.
Attribution and caution: The transcript captures Mitchell’s remarks about intent and the Secretary of State’s requested changes; the House’s action to send the matter to conference committee was recorded in the Clerk’s proceedings.
