HB 251 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise laws related to public charter schools

HB 251 revises laws concerning public charter schools, establishing a definition for "public charter school district" to clarify its governing authority as a non-taxing entity. The bill requires the Office of Public Instruction to provide a fiscal analysis for charter school applications and mandates the Board of Public Education to limit costs for new schools, prioritizing those emphasizing personalized and proficiency-based learning. It removes the Board of Public Education's authority to waive statutory requirements in charter contracts. Additionally, the bill allows public charter school districts to receive other forms of public funding and donations, and defines financial obligations for a child's resident school district when serving students with disabilities.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Signed May 6, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0251_1(6).pdf HB0251_X.pdf · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted from a draft version to an enrolled (final) version, removing page headers and footer markers while preserving the legislative content. No substantive policy changes, definitions, funding amounts, or effective dates were altered in this specific diff.
TECHNICAL

Removed draft formatting artifacts such as page numbers, version identifiers (HB 251.1 vs HB 251), and unauthorized print headers to reflect the final enrolled bill text.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 10, 2025 · House Feb 11, 2025

How they voted

471
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 50
Apr 10, 2025
D Democratic18
18 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican32
29 Yea 1 Nay 2
90% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
44
Key actions
10
Committee
7
May 1, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 10, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (47-1-2)
senate
Mar 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Education and Cultural Resources
upper
Mar 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Education and Cultural Resources
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Education and Cultural Resources
upper
Feb 11, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (85-14-1)
house
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Education
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Education
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Education
lower
Jan 20, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Education
lower
Jan 17, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Dave Bedey
Dave Bedey
RRepublican
MT
86