SB 27 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise marijuana licensing laws

SB 27 revises Montana's marijuana business licensing laws, impacting individuals and businesses seeking to enter or expand within the state's cannabis industry. The bill removes a previous moratorium that restricted new licenses primarily to those with medical marijuana licenses prior to 2021, allowing new applicants to participate. However, it establishes a new moratorium until 2027, preventing the Department of Revenue from issuing licenses for new dispensary locations. Additionally, existing licensees are prohibited from adding new licensed premises.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2024

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

May 2025

Introduced Dec 10, 2024 Signed May 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB0027_2(10).pdf → SB0027_X.pdf · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill removes the moratorium preventing new people from applying for marijuana licenses, allowing the industry to expand beyond those who held medical licenses before 2021. It introduces a new restriction prohibiting the Department of Revenue from issuing new location licenses for dispensaries until 2027 to ensure orderly growth. The text also includes minor formatting updates and a change in the document header from 'Authorized Print Version' to 'Enrolled Bill'.

Scope change

The bill expands eligibility for new license applicants by removing the previous moratorium but restricts the expansion of physical dispensary locations until 2027.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed the moratorium that previously barred new applicants from obtaining marijuana business licenses.

REQUIREMENT

Added a prohibition on issuing new location licenses for dispensaries until the year 2027.

TECHNICAL

Updated document headers and formatting to reflect the bill's status as an enrolled bill.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 18, 2025 · House Apr 11, 2025

How they voted

47–3

Passed

Total votes 50

Feb 18, 2025

D Democratic18

17 Yea 1 Nay

94% Yea

R Republican32

30 Yea 2 Nay

93% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 5, 2025

Signed into law

(S) Signed by Governor

upper

Apr 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Signed by Speaker

lower

Apr 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Signed by President

upper

Apr 11, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (82-16-2)

house

Apr 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Report - (H) Appropriations

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Appropriations

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Taken from Table in Committee - (H) Appropriations

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Taken from Table in Committee - (H) Appropriations

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Amended

(H) Tabled in Committee - (H) Appropriations

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Committee

(H) Rereferred to Committee - (H) Appropriations

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Report - (H) Business and Labor

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Business and Labor

lower

Feb 19, 2025

Committee

(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Business and Labor

lower

Feb 18, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (47-3)

senate

Feb 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Report - (S) Finance and Claims

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Finance and Claims

upper

Feb 4, 2025

Committee

(S) Rereferred to Committee - (S) Finance and Claims

upper

Jan 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Report - (S) Business, Labor and Economic Affairs

upper

Jan 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Business, Labor and Economic Affairs

upper

Jan 7, 2025

Committee

(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Business, Labor and Economic Affairs

upper

Dec 10, 2024

Introduced

(S) Introduced

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors