Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the HB0490 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate Judiciary advances HB0490 after extended debate and multiple amendments
Summary
After extensive debate over insurance subrogation, negligence standards, and which utilities the bill should cover, the committee passed amended HB0490 (wildfire mitigation and electric facility obligations) and concurred in the bill by roll call. Several sponsor and member amendments were considered; some failed and others were adopted.
The Senate Judiciary Committee spent more than an hour debating House Bill 0490, a bill that would set wildfire-mitigation plan obligations for electric facilities and modify liability rules for certain electric providers.
The sponsor’s amendment (HB0490 dot 003.006) revised definitions (including "electric facilities provider," "operator," and jointly owned facilities) and added mandatory language requiring specified inspection, maintenance and mitigation activities. Miss Burkhart, committee staff, walked members through the change in language that replaces discretionary "may" provisions with mandatory "will" wording and requires operators of jointly owned electric facilities to prepare and implement wildfire mitigation plans.
Opponents at the hearing and during executive action warned that some language could limit the ability of harmed property owners to be “made whole” and raised constitutional concerns. Senator Olson led a set of amendments intended to (1) remove a rebuttable presumption that critics said would change the ordinary negligence standard, (2) limit the bill’s special protections to cooperatives rather than investor-owned/regulatory commission utilities, and (3) require industry best practices. Mark Lambrecht of the Montana Electric Cooperatives Association described parts of the amendment as language requested by the insurance industry that "adds more certainty" (explaining the change from "may" to "will") and acknowledged an amendment to preserve insurer subrogation was introduced earlier in the House.
On a sequence of roll calls, one sponsor amendment (HB0490.003.006) passed 5–3; other proposed changes from Senator Olson failed on roll calls. After further debate the committee voted to concur on HB0490 as amended (final recorded vote on the bill passed 6–2). Supporters said the bill balances protecting co‑ops from strict liability while requiring mitigation; opponents said the bill risks restricting recoveries for fire victims and could chill insurance markets.
The committee forwarded the amended bill to the Senate floor. The summary of key votes: the sponsor’s primary technical amendment passed; Olson’s attempts to reinstate a more plaintiff-friendly negligence standard and to narrow/remove subrogation limits failed; the final concurrence vote passed by recorded tally.
