Although the week before the Revenue Transmittal deadline historically focused on tax bills, the rules have changed to allow almost any bills to have $1 tossed into them and be classified into a Revenue bill.

This practice started a few sessions ago and just continues to grow. The result is that this second transmittal deadline is now as overloaded and rushed as the General bill transmittal. They added a little more dust up on the Senate floor just to keep things interesting!

State Budget

The House took up HB 2 – the state budget – this week. It was debated by the full House on the floor and passed with a bi-partisan vote of 60–40. It will now go over the Senate, where they will add their ideas into the bill and remove the items where they disagree. It does not take as long to get through the process in the Senate, as the committees that met the first two months to go through every detail were a combination of Senate and House members. They will not repeat all of those hearings in the Senate, but instead, the Finance & Claims committee will make amendments and then send it to the full Senate floor.

Bill Deadlines

Tuesday, April 8 is the deadline for appropriation (spending) bills to pass out of their originating chamber. This means that after Tuesday, barring any exception to the rules, there will be no more bills introduced. It also means that every bill has had at least one hearing and many of the bills have failed to make the cut.

If a bill is amended in the second chamber – a House bill amended by the Senate, or vice versa – those bills and amendments must be returned to the originating chamber by Saturday, April 12. This affectively means that they need to finish up most of the hearings during the next five days.

So let’s take a look at the status of the bills that NFIB is watching. Any bills that I previously reported as through the process and headed to the Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk will not be included unless the governor issued a veto. I also am not including any bills that have been previously reported as ‘dead’ unless they were resurrected. We will circle back to all of these in the final report after the legislative session adjourns.

Tax Reductions

SB 322 Increase the business equipment tax exemption
Sponsored by Sen. Josh Kassmier, this is the governor’s proposal to increase the amount of business equipment exempt from taxation from $1 million to $3 million. The Senate passed this with a bi-partisan vote of 40 to 9 and it will now head to the House for its approval. NFIB supports.

Workers’ Compensation

These bills have all passed the House and the Senate Business & Labor committee and are still awaiting a Senate floor vote. You may notice that the status of these bills did not change this week. None of these bills were amended in committee, so they have no deadline to be debated on the Senate floor other than adjournment day.  Because they are focused on the bills that need to meet deadlines, these get set to the side, which does not indicate that they are in trouble in any way.

HB 367 Revise workers’ compensation laws relating to travel and reimbursement
Sponsored by Rep. Ed Buttrey.  As many employers now pay mileage or a base amount for mileage to their employees for travel, this clarifies that by doing this, the employee is not automatically covered by workers’ compensation any time they are in that vehicle. NFIB supports

HB 428 Revising provisions related to workers’ compensation
Sponsored by Rep. Morgan Theil, this attempts to further define when an employer is not responsible for workers’ compensation when using sub-contractors.

HB 516 Move worker’s compensation court to judicial branch
NFIB is monitoring this measure, sponsored by Rep. Ken Walsh.

Tort Reform

HB 803 Generally revise asbestos litigation laws
Sponsored by Rep. Greg Overstreet, this bill came to our attention late in the session. When a company that produced an asbestos related product has gone out of business, it is not uncommon for litigants to do what is called “over naming.” This is where they file a lawsuit against every business that may have come in contact with the product, including the Main Street hardware store where it was sold. This causes the small business to need to hire legal counsel and often causes their insurance rates to increase even if found not to be liable in any way. HB 803 would prevent this from happening. NFIB added our support to the bill as it was heard in Senate Judiciary this week and will work to get it passed out of committee and onto the Senate floor.

Other Issues

The following bills have passed the House, been heard in a Senate committee and passed. They still await debate on the Senate floor.

HB 443 Repeal county licensing of transient retail businesses
NFIB monitored this legislative measure sponsored by Rep. Braxton Michell

HB 463 Revise business laws relating to conversion of certain business entities
Sponsored by Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick This bill attempts to make it easier for a small business to convert from one tax filing status to another.  NFIB is monitoring.

HB 530 Generally revise business laws
Sponsored by Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick, this bill attempts to make it easier to move a business into Montana. Remember, that when referring to a “foreign” business at the Secretary of State, it is any business that is filed outside of Montana. NFIB is monitoring.

HB 226 Provide for a legal employment and government accountability law
A better option than SB 329, this NFIB-supported bill would grant the state Department of Labor the ability to examine I-9 forms if there is a complaint or reason to believe that a business is hiring people not legally allowed to work in Montana. The state currently cannot request to examine these forms because they are only a federal requirement.

And in the House

SB 19 Revise sentencing laws related to theft
Sponsored by Sen. Barry Usher, this measure had a very short but positive hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. It would make shoplifting and writing bad checks a punishable crime again. The committee has not yet acted on this  NFIB-supported bill.

SB 528 Revising laws related to credit card transaction fees
Sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Trebas. While making credit card transaction fees statutorily allowed, it limits them to 3% and requires that they be fully disclosed prior to the completion of the transaction. This has passed the Senate and had its first hearing in the House Business & Labor Committee.  The committee has not yet voted on the bill.  NFIB is monitoring it.

SB 329 Require employers to use e-verify for employment eligibility
Sponsored by Sen. Forrest Mandeville. NFIB opposed this bill as over burdensome for small business. The Senate floor amended the bill to only apply to those businesses that employee 50 or more employees. The House Judiciary committee lowered the amount of the fines and eliminated the ability for a complaint to be filed anonymously, improving the bill somewhat. It has passed out of committee but has not been debated on the full House floor.

SB 418 Generally revise laws related to home based businesses
Sponsored by Sen. Ellie Boldman, this bill prohibits local governments from passing ordinances that prohibit  home-based businesses while still allowing for reasonable regulations. This was heard in House Local Government on Thursday, where it was not really well received. Many Representatives felt that there were no examples of anywhere in Montana where this was currently happening and that this was a law that is not needed. The committee has not yet taken a vote on the bill. NFIB supported it as good policy.

Coming Up This Week

Monday, April 7
3 p.m. Senate Natural Resource Committee
HB 477 Phase out polystyrene single use food containers
Sponsored by Rep. Marilyn Marler, NFIB opposes it as unnecessary government regulation of private business.

Prior Legislative Reports 

— March 29: Five NFIB-Backed Bills Now on Governor’s Desk

— March 22: NFIB-Backed Workers’ Compensation Bill on Governor’s Desk

— March 15: Legislature at Midway Point of 2025 Session

— March 1: Montana Legislature Shifts into Overdrive

— February 14, 22: Weekly Legislative Update

— February 7: NFIB Tracking Nearly 30 Measures Important to Small Business for Support, Opposition, or Tracking

— February 2: NFIB-Supported Unemployment Insurance, Workers’ Comp Bills Advance

— January 26: Legislature Simmers Down, Settles into Normal Pace

— January 20: Governor’s Property Tax Proposal Starts Legislative Run

— January 12: Chaotic Start to the 2025 Legislative Session

— January 6: Montana Legislature Starts its 2025 Session