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City staff brief council on key Montana bills as session heads to final weeks
Summary
Central Services staff summarized the status of several state bills of interest to the city, including legislation on rental application fee refunds, impact fees, voted levies, and bills affecting local authority on licensing and red-flag laws.
Jessica Miller of Central Services briefed the Missoula City Council on the status of several Montana legislative bills on April 14 as the session entered its final weeks.
Miller said House Bill 311, requiring landlords to refund unused portions of rental application fees, had passed second reading and appeared likely to head to the governor. Senate Bill 133, which revises impact-fee law and would restrict some local uses of impact fees (removing parks and general administration as allowable uses), was on the calendar for third reading. Governor Greg Gianforte had signed House Bill 20, which requires voted levies to be expressed in dollar amounts. Senate Bill 90, concerning redistribution of certain state tax revenue to primary-residence property tax relief, had been taken off the table and placed on second reading.
Miller said Senate Bill 2 (tax increment treatment on TIF expiration) and SB 537 (marijuana tax revisions that could fund homelessness case management) were moving, while House Bill 594 (restrictions on local licensing and permitting authority) appeared to have failed after an indefinite postponement on second reading. She flagged House Bill 809, which would prohibit local red-flag gun laws, as having passed; Miller noted the bill would limit local tools for addressing domestic-violence risk.
Miller said the scheduled adjournment was three weeks away (May 5) and cautioned that the calendar and outcomes could still change.
