Montana House advances scores of bills in long roll-call session; a few measures fail

The Montana House of Representatives convened for an extended floor session and took up a long series of roll-call votes on bills spanning criminal justice, education, natural resources, health care and other policy areas. Most measures reported by members were approved by the House; a small number failed on final passage.

The session opened with procedural remarks, an invocation and the pledge of allegiance. The chamber then read and considered many bills on third reading; for each bill the House took a voice or electronic vote and the clerk announced the recorded tally before the Speaker announced the outcome.

Why it matters: The votes move legislation forward to the Senate or enact changes that will affect state agencies, local governments and regulated industries across Montana. Several bills recorded lopsided margins, while a few generated closer margins or failed on the floor.

Votes at a glance (selected bills and recorded tallies as announced on the floor):

- House Bill 752 (Schubert) — “A bill for an act” (title read on the floor). Clerk: 59 ayes, 40 no; outcome: passed.

- House Bill 521 (Shomer) — “Generally Revised Civil Liability Laws.” Clerk: 58 ayes, 41 no; passed.

- House Bill 823 (Barker) — “Revise laws relating to the state plan committee.” Clerk: 9 ayes, 0 no (as announced); passed.

- House Bill 792 (Cunningham) — “Generally revised laws related to cannabis labeling and education.” Clerk: 94 ayes, 5 no; passed.

- House Bill 716 (Griffith) — “Generally revised qualifications for county water and sewer board of directors.” Clerk: 95 ayes, 4 no; passed.

- House Bill 523 (Mercer) — “Providing for Disposition of Abandoned Graveyard Lots.” Clerk: 67 ayes, 32 no; passed.

- House Bill 629 (S. Fitzpatrick) — “Revised laws related to a proposed subdivision.” Clerk: 94 ayes, 5 no; passed.

- House Bill 680 (Walsh) — “Generally revised trade and commerce laws.” Clerk: 96 ayes, 3 no; passed.

- House Bill 549 (Secon’s Crow) — “Allowing for Distillery Warehouse Receipts.” Clerk: 90 ayes, 9 no; passed.

- House Bill 732 (Beattie) — “Establish Prompt Cost Repair Reimbursement Act.” Clerk: 99 ayes, 0 no; passed.

- House Bill 527 (Teal) — “Revising the process for written plans of conduct for mail elections.” Clerk: 91 ayes, 8 no; passed.

- House Bill 740 (Bertolio) — “Revised laws relating to pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers, and other entities.” Clerk: 98 ayes, 1 no; passed.

- House Bill 708 (G. Nicholakakos) — “Allow all persons serving in the reserves to be eligible for certain CDL waiver.” Clerk: 99 ayes, 0 no; passed.

- House Bill 624 (Tillman) — “Revised agriculture laws related to beehives.” Clerk: 99 ayes, 0 no; passed.

- House Bill 566 (Bertolio) — “Generally revised decennial veteran study laws.” Clerk: 99 ayes, 0 no; passed.

- House Bill 723 (Deming) — “Establish Annual Reporting Requirements of Been Born Alive.” Clerk: 57 ayes, 42 no; passed.

- House Bill 531 (S. Fitzpatrick) — “Revise Laws Related to Legislative Rules.” Clerk: 59 ayes, 40 no; passed.

- House Bill 606 (Barker) — clerk announced unanimous recorded support as read (99 ayes, 0 no); passed.

- House Bill 623 (Perry) — “Revise laws relating to nuclear energy.” Clerk: 86 ayes, 13 no; passed.

- House Bill 562 (Darling) — “Eliminate Certain Agency Reports.” Clerk: 89 ayes, 10 no; passed.

- House Bill 611 (DeMorse) — “Generally revised salaries for certain elected officials.” Clerk: 95 ayes, 4 no; passed.

- House Bill 599 (M. Nicholas Cakos) — “Revise student data collection laws.” Clerk: 74 ayes, 25 no; passed.

- House Bill 699/699-series (Mercer) — “Revised review panel for tailings plans.” Clerk: 99 ayes, 0 no; passed.

- House Bill 713 — clerk recorded 96 ayes, 3 no; passed.

- House Bill 685/685-series — clerk recorded 56 ayes, 43 no; passed.

- House Bill 587 (Perry) — recorded 55 ayes, 44 no; passed.

- House Bill 614 — recorded 95 ayes, 4 no; passed.

- House Bill 355/other (examples across the session) — many other bills were read and received recorded tallies as announced on the floor; most passed and a small number failed (see below).

Bills that failed on final passage (as announced on the floor):

- House Bill 635 (listed in transcript as House Bill 6 35) — Clerk: 41 ayes, 58 no; outcome: failed to pass the House.

- House Bill 500 (Oblender) — Clerk: 49 ayes, 50 no; outcome: failed to pass the House.

Other floor items and motions:

- Several members requested changes to their recorded votes after the roll call. Representative Cunningham asked to change a vote on House Bill 636 (House Bill 6 36) from no to yes; Representative Estman requested a change on House Bill 6 35 from yes to no; Representative Cochran requested a change on House Bill 754 from no to yes. The Speaker or Clerk recorded those requested changes on the record when permitted or noted objections as announced on the floor.

- At the close of business Majority Leader Fitzpatrick moved that the House adjourn and reconvene on the 51st legislative day at 1 p.m.; the motion carried and the Speaker adjourned the House.

What the record shows: The transcript records the bill numbers, the member who introduced each measure and the vote tallies as read aloud by the clerk. The House announced passage for a large set of bills across policy areas and recorded a small number of failures on final passage. The transcript is the official floor record of the roll-call outcomes announced during this sitting. No votes were attributed to named individual ‘yes/no’ positions other than the tallies read by the clerk; where individual vote changes were requested, the member requesting the change is recorded in the transcript.

Ending: The House recessed for a transmittal break with committee meeting announcements for the coming days and instructions about reconvening on Monday, March 17 at 1 p.m.