House Energy advances cryptocurrency, blockchain task force and passes two resolutions; committee votes and carriers recorded

The House Energy Committee completed a series of executive actions that advanced a cryptocurrency bill and a blockchain task force and approved two resolutions.

Key outcomes

- Senate Bill 265 (Financial Freedom and Innovation Act): Committee moved to concur in SB 265; roll call recorded 10 ayes and 4 noes. The committee reported the bill to the floor; Representative Carter was assigned to carry the bill on the House floor.

- Senate Bill 330 (Montana Blockchain and Digital Innovation Task Force, SB 3 30): The committee adopted amendments to increase legislative participation on the task force and to equalize appointments between majority and minority leadership. Amendment 002.001 passed by voice/roll counts earlier (13 ayes, 2 noes). A conceptual amendment to set appointment parity passed (14 ayes, 0 noes). A final roll call concurrence on the twice‑amended bill recorded 8 ayes and 6 noes. The committee reported the bill to the House.

- House Joint Resolution 20 (requesting increased hours at Montana‑Canada ports of entry): Passed on executive action, 14 ayes, 0 noes; will go to the House.

- House Resolution 3 (urging Montana's congressional delegation to protect Montanans' personally identifiable information): The committee adopted an amendment (HR 3.1 0.2) to add advocacy to the President of the United States and to send a copy to the President; the amendment passed 13 ayes, 1 no. Final passage of HR 3 as amended was recorded by roll call at 10 ayes and 4 noes.

Roll call detail (selected)

On SB 265 the roll call as read in committee recorded the following votes (display names from the transcript): Vice Chair Commence — Yes; Representative Fielder — Yes; Representative Lee — No; Representative Fiendt — No; Representative Mallette — Yes; Representative Brewster — Yes; Representative Carter — Yes; Representative Sharp — Yes; Representative Griffith — Yes; Representative Zolnicoff — Yes; Representative Mitchell — Yes (by proxy); Vice Chair Quorum — No; Chair Perry — Yes. Tally reported: 10 ayes, 4 noes.

On SB 3 30 final concurrence the committee roll call recorded: Vice Chair Commence — Yes; Representative Fielder — No; Representative Joy — No; Representative Lee — Yes; Representative Fiendt — Yes; Representative Mallette — Yes; Representative Brewster — No; Representative Carter — Yes; Representative Sharp — No; Representative Griffith — Yes; Representative Zolnikov — Yes; Representative Mitchell — No (by proxy); Vice Chair Quorum — No; Chair Perry — Yes. Tally reported: 8 ayes, 6 noes.

Staff and committee comments

Committee staff member Burns explained the practical role of a task force administered by the Department of Administration and noted that task‑force findings can generate suggested legislation that would still need to go through the Economic Affairs interim committee and then the Legislature.

What the votes mean

The committee actions move SB 265 and SB 3 30 to the House for further consideration and place HJ 20 and HR 3 on the House calendar. SB 3 30 passed with amendments that add legislative seats and change appointment parity; members debated executive‑style task forces, membership balance and conflict‑of‑interest concerns before final concurrence.

Motions and formal actions recorded during the session are listed below with vote tallies and available roll‑call detail.