HB 131 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Revising the duration of unemployment insurance benefits

HB 131 proposes to revise the duration of unemployment insurance benefits for individuals claiming them. The bill amends Section 39-51-2204, MCA, to change how the total amount of benefits an eligible individual can receive is calculated. It specifically revises the ratio of an individual's total base period earnings relative to their highest quarter of earnings, which determines the number of full weeks of benefit entitlement. These changes would apply to unemployment insurance claims filed on or after July 1, 2025.

Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 7, 2025 Last action May 20, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0131_2(10).pdf → HB0131_3.pdf · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was renumbered from HB 131.2 to HB 131.3 and updated with new text to clarify benefit calculations for specific groups. The primary change adds a new exception for job-attached, union-attached, and mass layoff claimants, ensuring they receive the full statutory benefit weeks rather than a reduced amount based on their earnings ratio. This update ensures these vulnerable workers receive the maximum possible unemployment support available under the law.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include job-attached, union-attached, and mass layoff claimants as a distinct category eligible for the maximum benefit duration.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a specific exception for job-attached, union-attached, and mass layoff claimants to ensure they receive the full number of benefit weeks.

REQUIREMENT

Revised the main benefit calculation rule to apply the standard earnings ratio to all individuals except those covered by the new mass layoff exception.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill number from HB 131.2 to HB 131.3 and adjusted line numbers and formatting throughout the document.

Floor votes · House Feb 5, 2025

How they voted

56–44

Passed

Total votes 100

Feb 5, 2025

D Democratic42

42 Nay

100% Nay

R Republican58

56 Yea 2 Nay

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 22, 2025

Amended

(H) Tabled in Committee - (H) Appropriations

lower

Feb 5, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (56-44)

house

Feb 5, 2025

Committee

(H) Rereferred to Committee - (H) Appropriations

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Jan 8, 2025

Committee

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

lower

Jan 7, 2025

Introduced

(H) Introduced

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors