HB 43 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise motor vehicle traffic regulation laws

HB 43 revises Montana's motor vehicle traffic laws to improve clarity and consistency. It specifically defines "paved shoulder" to allow bicyclists to operate on shoulders (not just paved roads), updates rules for yielding to emergency vehicles, and clarifies when passing school buses is permitted. The bill also reorganizes traffic definitions and amends parking permit rules to better protect accessible parking spaces for people with disabilities. These changes directly affect drivers, cyclists, and emergency responders by standardizing road usage and accessibility requirements. The bill was signed into law by Montana's Governor on March 27, 2025.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2024
Committee Review
Jan 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Dec 9, 2024 Signed Mar 27, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 11 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0043_X.pdf HB0043_X(1).pdf · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill underwent formatting and numbering standardization, converting the bill number from 'HB0043' to 'HB 43' and updating the header to reflect the 'ENROLLED BILL' status. Additionally, the bill includes a substantive amendment to Section 61-6-301 of the Montana Code Annotated, though the specific text of that amendment is not visible in the provided diff.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on the same statutory section (61-6-301), but the document itself is now in its final enrolled form.
TECHNICAL

Standardized the bill number format from 'HB0043' to 'HB 43' throughout the document headers.

Updated the document title to indicate the bill is now an 'ENROLLED BILL', signifying it has been approved by both legislative chambers and the governor.

REQUIREMENT

Amended Section 61-6-301 of the Montana Code Annotated, though the specific details of this legal change are not included in the provided text.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 24, 2025 · House Jan 21, 2025

How they voted

3019
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 50
Feb 24, 2025
D Democratic18
17 Yea 1
94% Yea
R Republican32
13 Yea 19 Nay
59% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
38
Key actions
9
Committee
6
Mar 27, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Mar 18, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 24, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (30-19-1)
senate
Jan 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Jan 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Jan 24, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Jan 21, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (99-0-1)
house
Jan 16, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Transportation
lower
Jan 16, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Transportation
lower
Dec 20, 2024
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Transportation
lower
Dec 9, 2024
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Denise Baum
Denise Baum
DDemocratic
MT
45