Montana Senate advances vehicle, health and consumer bills; election judges and abortion-related measure fail

The Montana Senate spent its morning floor session advancing a range of bills on driver services, public health, consumer protections and municipal procedures while rejecting two politically charged proposals and leaving others under discussion.

Senators approved a sweeping motor-vehicle update (Senate Bill 380) that reorganizes parts of Title 61, expands electronic transactions for vehicle services and lets counties provide more driver services; sponsor Senator Don Vance described it as a large “cleanup” needed after moving to a new back-end system. The measure cleared second reading on a recorded vote of 48-2.

The chamber also passed a bill updating Montana’s clean indoor air law (Senate Bill 390) to add e-cigarette aerosol to the law’s scope. Sponsor Senator Lydia Curti said the 20-year-old statute predated vaping and that “e‑cigarette aerosol is harmful,” and the Senate approved SB390 on second reading, 38-12.

Other measures approved on second reading included:

- A ban on including packaging material in food ground for swine feed (SB414), 41-9. - A consumer-facing measure allowing merchants to charge and disclose a capped credit-card transaction fee (SB528), 29-21 after extended debate about whether the fee ultimately falls on renters and small customers. - Confirmation that lodging managers of licensed hotels and tourist homes are exempt from long-term property-manager licensing (SB442), 50-0. - A warrant-procedure clarification requiring known lawful occupants to be shown a search warrant (SB444), 46-4. - A prior-authorization reform for continuity of care and electronic submissions (SB449), 50-0. - A prohibition on soliciting roadside towing/services at accident scenes and a requirement that tow operators carry written proof of requests (SB455), 48-2. - A measure inserting a ‘best-interests’ standard into child-protective-services law (SB466), 50-0. - A pedestrian-crossing statute clarifying when drivers must yield at pedestrian-activated devices (SB471), 34-14. - Multiple bills on student-athlete name/image/likeness contracts (SB482), special-needs ESA remittance timing (SB486), the End of Watch Trust cleanup for officers’ families (SB487), consumer-protection statute-of-limitation clarifications (SB488), and a state fund for sexual-assault forensic exam costs (SB491) all passed on recorded votes as noted below.

Two measures failed on second reading after floor debate. Senator David Zolnikov’s bill creating new notice and nomination deadlines for election judges (SB470) failed 17-33 after senators from several rural counties said the timing and party-balance requirements would make recruiting judges harder. A highly contested measure concerning chemical abortion drugs and wastewater (SB479) produced a 25-25 tie and failed; proponents framed it as protecting Montana’s “right to a clean and healthful environment,” while opponents said the bill is a veiled restriction on abortion and would criminalize or penalize providers and patients.

Senate Bill 497, a health-care “safe haven” / career-fatigue and wellness bill intended to provide confidential, privileged pathways for clinicians to seek help and avoid board-level penalties, received an extended floor presentation and questions but the provided transcript ends during Q&A and does not include a final recorded vote in the supplied excerpt.

Votes at a glance

- SB380 (motor-vehicle revisions). Sponsor: Sen. Don Vance. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 48 aye, 2 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB390 (clean indoor air — include e-cigarettes). Sponsor: Sen. Lydia Curti. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 38 aye, 12 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB414 (prohibit packaging in garbage fed to swine). Sponsor: Sen. S. Morjot. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 41 aye, 9 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB528 (credit card transaction fees, disclosure; cap 3%). Sponsor: Sen. Trevis. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 29 aye, 21 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB442 (exempt lodging managers from property-manager licensing). Sponsor: Sen. Vinton. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 50 aye. (Second reading passed.) - SB444 (require exhibiting search warrant to known lawful occupant). Sponsor: Sen. Trevis. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 46 aye, 4 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB449 (prior-authorizations, continuity of care). Sponsor: Sen. Ricky. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 50 aye. (Second reading passed.) - SB455 (prohibit soliciting roadside services at accident scenes). Sponsor: Sen. Asher. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 48 aye, 2 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB466 (best interests of the child in CPS law). Sponsor: Sen. Lentz. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 50 aye. (Second reading passed.) - SB470 (election-judge procedures; notification and party lists). Sponsor: Sen. Zolnikov. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 17 aye, 33 nay. (Failed second reading.) - SB471 (pedestrian crosswalk/pedestrian-activated device rules). Sponsor: Sen. Fernie. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 34 aye, 14 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB479 (chemical-abortion drugs and wastewater/industry responsibility). Sponsor: Sen. Mansella. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 25 aye, 25 nay (tie). (Failed second reading.) - SB482 (student-athlete NIL contracts — require written contracts). Sponsor: Sens. Boldman & Fitzpatrick. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 48 aye, 2 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB486 (special-needs ESA remittance timing option). Sponsor: Sen. Vinton. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 50 aye. (Second reading passed.) - SB487 (End of Watch Trust technical changes). Sponsor: Sen. Usher. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 50 aye. (Second reading passed.) - SB488 (consumer-protection statutes of limitation). Sponsor: Sen. Nolan. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 50 aye. (Second reading passed.) - SB491 (funding of sexual-assault forensic exams). Sponsor: Sen. Phelan. Motion: recommend do pass. Vote: 42 aye, 8 nay. (Second reading passed.) - SB497 (health-care provider fatigue/wellness, safe-haven protections). Sponsor: Sen. McCamey. Floor discussion and Q&A recorded; no final vote in provided transcript excerpt.

What senators emphasized

- Supporters of SB380 said the long bill is largely technical cleanup and will let counties provide more local driver services; Senator Vance asked for passage, calling it “many, many parts” of Title 61 that needed amendment. Senator Novak asked whether the county-service changes would help the nine counties that currently lack DMV offices; Vance and staff noted counties could enter authorized agreements to provide limited driver services.

- SB528 drew extended debate about whether the permitted 3% fee would ultimately be priced into goods paid for with cash and whether debit-card transactions are covered; sponsor Sen. Trevis said the bill targets credit-card fees and requires clear disclosure at the point of sale.

- SB479 prompted one of the strongest floor exchanges. Sponsor Sen. Mansella framed the bill as protecting Montana’s constitutional “right to a clean and healthful environment” and cited national-level studies on “forever chemicals.” Opponents, including medical professionals and senators representing rural counties, said the bill is effectively a restriction on abortion access and would have severe consequences for clinical care and patients (including miscarriage management and postpartum care). The bill failed on a 25-25 tie.

- On SB470 (election judges), sponsors said the point was to create trust by ensuring timely party submissions and training; opponents from rural counties argued recruiting sufficient judges would be harder if strict partisan balance and deadlines were required.

Procedure and next steps

Most bills received a motion to “recommend do pass” from the sponsor and recorded second-reading votes; bills that passed second reading will proceed according to the Senate’s calendar and committee referrals before final passage. SB497 remained under floor Q&A in the supplied excerpt with questions about how competency and mandatory reporting would be handled; the transcript provided ends before a final vote for that measure.

Ending

The morning session covered a high volume of policy areas — transportation, public health, criminal procedure, consumer protection and election administration — producing several bipartisan approvals and two prominent defeats. The Senate recessed after the block of bills; additional action on remaining items will continue on the chamber’s calendar.