HB 196 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Revise digital ID certification laws

HB 196 updates Montana's alcohol sales laws to include government-certified digital ID cards as valid identification for age verification. It amends training requirements for alcohol servers to explicitly include checking digital ID cards and adds digital ID cards to the list of prohibited fraudulent identification. The bill directly affects alcohol servers, retailers, and customers using digital IDs, making it unlawful to fraudulently use or alter digital ID cards when purchasing alcohol. This law, signed by the Governor on April 7, 2025, ensures digital IDs are treated equally with physical IDs under existing alcohol sales and fraud statutes.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Jan 14, 2025 Signed Apr 7, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0196_X(5).pdf HB0196_X(6).pdf · 2 edits
MINOR
The document shows minor formatting adjustments and the removal of blank lines at the end of the bill text. There are no substantive policy changes, no new definitions, and no alterations to the bill's scope or legal requirements.
TECHNICAL

Removed blank lines and the 'END' marker from the document footer.

Adjusted the spacing of the bill title and sponsor names at the top of the page.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 24, 2025 · House Feb 5, 2025

How they voted

482
Passed
Total votes 50
Mar 24, 2025
D Democratic18
18 Yea
100% 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
38
Key actions
9
Committee
6
Apr 7, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Mar 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 24, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (48-2)
senate
Mar 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Energy, Technology & Federal Relations
upper
Mar 18, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Energy, Technology & Federal Relations
upper
Feb 17, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Energy, Technology & Federal Relations
upper
Feb 5, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (84-16)
house
Jan 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Business and Labor
lower
Jan 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Business and Labor
lower
Jan 15, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Business and Labor
lower
Jan 14, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Braxton Mitchell
Braxton Mitchell
RRepublican
MT
5