HB 401 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Prohibit the sale of lab-grown meat in the state of Montana

HB 401 prohibits the manufacture, sale, holding, offering for sale, or distribution of "cell-cultured edible product" within Montana. This refers to meat produced via cell culture rather than from a slaughtered animal. The bill directly affects consumers by preventing access to these products and businesses by making such activities unlawful. Violations can lead to misdemeanor charges for individuals, including imprisonment, and disciplinary actions or license suspensions for retail food establishments. The department is also given authority to adopt rules to implement this prohibition.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Feb 5, 2025 Signed May 5, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0401_2(13).pdf HB0401_X.pdf · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was renumbered from HB 401.2 to HB 401 and updated to reflect its final enrolled status. The core policy content remains largely consistent, but the text was cleaned up to remove redundant sections and correct cross-references to ensure clarity in the final legal text.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and distribution of cell-cultured edible products in Montana.
TECHNICAL

The bill number was changed from HB 401.2 to HB 401 to reflect its final version.

Redundant introductory text and duplicate section headers were removed to streamline the document.

Internal cross-references were updated to point to the correct section numbers in the final version.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 14, 2025 · House Mar 6, 2025

How they voted

3414
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 50
Apr 14, 2025
D Democratic18
8 Yea 9 Nay 1
50% Nay
R Republican32
26 Yea 5 Nay 1
81% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
49
Key actions
9
Committee
6
May 1, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 14, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (34-14-2)
senate
Apr 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation
upper
Apr 1, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation
upper
Mar 6, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (64-35-1)
house
Feb 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Agriculture
lower
Feb 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Agriculture
lower
Feb 6, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Agriculture
lower
Feb 5, 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