LC 2722 authorizes Montana's Office of Inspector General (within the Department of Public Health and Human Services) to issue subpoenas requiring the production of financial records, documents, or electronic data related to investigations of waste, fraud, or abuse in health care services and public assistance programs. The bill specifies that subpoenas must be signed by both the department director and the Inspector General. It appropriates $5,000 from the general fund for implementation during the 2025-2027 biennium. This change directly affects the Inspector General's investigative authority and the entities (like health care providers and public assistance programs) under investigation. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025.
This joint resolution requests an interim study on data centers in Montana to examine their potential impacts on the state's economy and electric grid. The study will analyze how data centers affect grid reliability, safety, and capacity; evaluate economic effects including potential rate increases for existing customers; and explore water resource demands and other related topics. It requires findings to be reported to the 70th Legislature by September 15, 2026, but does not enact new laws or directly affect any entities. The resolution aims to inform future policy decisions by gathering data on a growing industry.
This bill (LC 2019) amends Montana’s obstructing justice law to specifically include individuals who entered the U.S. unlawfully or violated immigration conditions as "offenders." It makes it a crime to knowingly harbor, assist, or provide resources to such individuals, with penalties ranging from fines to up to 10 years in prison for felony violations. The law directly affects people who offer shelter, transportation, or other aid to those with immigration status violations. A $500 appropriation funds the Department of Justice to notify law enforcement about the new requirements. The bill focuses on state-level enforcement of existing immigration status violations, not on creating new immigration policies.
This bill (LC 41) changes how courts handle offenders with prior suspended or deferred felony sentences who face new felony charges in a different county. It allows a county attorney to file a petition requesting that the revocation case for the prior sentence be transferred to the county where the new felony charge occurred, so both cases are heard together. The bill amends Montana law to specify that such petitions must be filed with the sentencing court and served to relevant parties, including the original sentencing county. This primarily affects offenders who received suspended or deferred sentences in one county but are charged with a new felony in another, streamlining their case handling.
This Montana bill (LC 4235) directly affects travelers holding airline travel credits. It prohibits expiration dates on such credits, ensures the credit's value belongs to the person holding it (not the airline), and bans fees that reduce the credit's value. Travelers with credits worth less than $5 can request cash redemption. Additionally, the bill imposes a $1 fee on airline tickets to/from Montana, with revenue funding human trafficking prevention efforts at the Department of Justice.
This bill revises Montana's alcohol laws to expand where certain licensed businesses can serve alcohol. It allows golf course licensees to sell beverages in additional structures (up to one per 9 holes) with a $100 fee, permits hotels/resorts to serve alcohol in swimming pool areas or ski hill locations (with $100 fees per structure), and creates new rules for guest ranches requiring floorplans and a $100 fee per additional building. These changes directly affect businesses holding all-beverages, resort, or guest ranch licenses. The key mechanisms involve expanding permitted service locations, adding application fees, and requiring detailed premises documentation.
This bill creates the Montana Behavioral Health Trust Fund to provide dedicated funding for mental health and substance use services. It establishes a seven-member board (appointed by the governor, legislative leaders, and tribal representatives) to manage the fund, which receives quarterly interest from a permanent endowment (preserving the principal). Funds will support specific services like school-based mental health programs, crisis care, counselors in homeless shelters, transitional housing, and facility expansions - directly benefiting community organizations and public health services. The bill mandates that funds cannot replace existing state funding and requires the board to develop a state plan and monitor program effectiveness.
Montana's LC 2541 bill aims to improve Medicaid service accessibility for applicants and recipients by requiring the Department of Public Health and Human Services to: (1) implement mobile-first technology for all client-facing systems by June 2026; (2) provide written materials in plain language and translate them into the state's five most common languages; (3) offer hotline callers expected wait times and callback options; and (4) report quarterly on service metrics like renewal rates and processing times. The bill also mandates reopening 10 local public assistance offices by June 2026, prioritizing counties with high call volumes, disenrollment rates due to procedural errors, and long travel distances. It includes a $3 million annual appropriation for implementation and sets a target of a 60% ex parte renewal rate (renewals processed without in-person contact) by June 2026. These changes directly affect Montana Medicaid beneficiaries, applicants, and county offices administering the program.
This bill, LC 1727, creates a tax exclusion for a portion of income earned from selling newly constructed homes in Montana. It directly affects homeowners who sell newly built residences within the state. The key mechanism adds a new exclusion to Montana's tax code, meaning a specific part of the profit from these sales will not be counted as taxable income for state income tax purposes. This change modifies Montana's calculation of taxable income by removing this portion of sale proceeds from the tax base.
This Montana joint resolution (LC 4382) urges the U.S. Congress to address unsolicited mortgage offers known as "trigger leads." It directly affects Montana residents who receive unwanted emails, calls, texts, or mail from unknown lenders, which occur when entities obtain leads from borrowers seeking mortgages through trusted lenders. The resolution argues that current federal law (the Fair Credit Reporting Act) prevents states from regulating these offers and that existing opt-out systems are ineffective. It specifically requests Congress either eliminate trigger leads or allow states like Montana to regulate them without federal preemption.
This bill creates a new property tax class (class nineteen) specifically for manufacturing properties in Montana. It defines qualifying manufacturing property as land and improvements used for transforming materials into new products or assembling components (excluding construction), and sets a lower tax rate of 1.47% on this class - significantly below standard rates. The law applies to property tax years starting January 1, 2026, directly affecting manufacturers whose property meets the defined criteria. It clarifies tax treatment for parcels with mixed uses by basing classification on the largest share of improvements.
This resolution confirms Governor's appointment of Dwaine Iverson to the Montana Board of Investments. The Senate formally concurs in and confirms Iverson's appointment, which was submitted to the Senate by the Governor on January 15, 2025, for a term ending January 1, 2027. The resolution is procedural, not a new policy, and directly affects the Board of Investments' membership.
