HB 42 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Revise laws related to highways and transportation for clarity and consistency

HB 42 revises Montana's highway and transportation laws to improve clarity and consistency, primarily affecting county road management procedures. The bill unifies the definition of "abandonment" across statutes, reorganizes definitions to align with drafting standards, and amends 23 specific sections (e.g., updating county road designation rules in §7-14-2101 and clarifying bridge definitions in §60-1-103). It also includes a standalone provision protecting Tower Rock as a state historic site (§22-3-1101), prohibiting its sale and requiring state ownership. This is a technical revision focused on streamlining existing law, not creating new policies or funding.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2024
Committee Review
Jan 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Dec 9, 2024 Signed Mar 4, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 11 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0042_X(1).pdf HB0042_X(2).pdf · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill number formatting was standardized from 'HB0042' to 'HB 42' across the document, and the header 'ENROLLED BILL' was retained. These are technical formatting changes that do not alter the substantive policy, scope, or legal effect of the legislation.
TECHNICAL

Bill number formatting changed from 'HB0042' to 'HB 42' in multiple locations for consistency.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 18, 2025 · House Jan 21, 2025

How they voted

464
Passed
Total votes 50
Feb 18, 2025
D Democratic18
18 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican32
28 Yea 4 Nay
87% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
44
Key actions
9
Committee
6
Mar 4, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Feb 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (46-4)
senate
Jan 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Jan 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Jan 24, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Jan 21, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (99-0-1)
house
Jan 16, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Transportation
lower
Jan 16, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Transportation
lower
Dec 20, 2024
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Transportation
lower
Dec 9, 2024
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Denise Baum
Denise Baum
DDemocratic
MT
45