HB 551 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Eliminate reduced-price copayments for school lunch and breakfast

HB 551 would have created a state program to replace funding for Montana school districts that eliminate small copayments for reduced-price school lunches and breakfasts. It aimed to remove financial barriers for families meeting federal income eligibility (for low-income meals) by providing $600,000 annually starting in 2025 to offset lost revenue. The bill required the state superintendent to administer the program and adopt rules, with funding intended to cover districts voluntarily removing fees. However, the bill was vetoed by the governor on June 19, 2025, so it did not become law.
Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Jun 2025
Senate Passage
Jun 2025
Vetoed
Jun 2025
Introduced Feb 18, 2025 Vetoed Jun 19, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 7 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0551_X(3).pdf HB0551_X(4).pdf · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill text was cleaned up by removing redundant closing punctuation and extra blank lines. A new section was added to clarify that if another specific bill (House Bill No. 2) is passed, certain provisions in that other bill will be voided to prevent conflicts. The effective date remains unchanged at July 1, 2025.
Scope change
The bill's scope was slightly adjusted by adding a coordination clause that limits its application if a conflicting bill is enacted.
REQUIREMENT

Added a coordination instruction stating that provisions in House Bill No. 2 are void if both bills are approved.

TECHNICAL

Removed redundant closing punctuation and extra blank lines from the title and end of the document.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 22, 2025 · House Apr 5, 2025

How they voted

2822
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 22, 2025
D Democratic18
18 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican32
10 Yea 22 Nay
68% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
53
Key actions
8
Committee
7
Amendments
1
Jun 19, 2025
Vetoed
(H) Vetoed by Governor
lower
Jun 9, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Jun 2, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 22, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (28-22)
senate
Apr 16, 2025
Amended
(S) Tabled in Committee - (S) Education and Cultural Resources
upper
Apr 7, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Education and Cultural Resources
upper
Apr 5, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (68-30-2)
house
Apr 1, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Appropriations
lower
Mar 31, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Appropriations
lower
Mar 29, 2025
Committee
(H) Rereferred to Committee - (H) Appropriations
lower
Mar 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Education
lower
Mar 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Education
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Education
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Melissa Romano
Melissa Romano
DDemocratic
MT
80