HB 560 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Establish the Montana hunters and anglers community fund

HB 560 would have established a Montana Hunters' and Anglers' Community Fund, allowing donors to contribute $1 or more above the cost of wildlife conservation licenses. Funds collected would support grants for small rural communities (under 7,500 people) through the Department of Commerce, including projects like school improvements, food banks, or student programs. Grants would be limited to $2,000 (small) or $20,000 (large), with eligibility restrictions barring political activities and entities involved in lawsuits. The bill created a review board appointed by legislative leaders and the governor, and it died in committee in May 2025 without becoming law.
Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 18, 2025 Last action May 22, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

LC1052.pdf HB0560_1.pdf · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill text was updated from a legislative committee version (LC 1052) to the official House Bill 560.1, incorporating the full list of sponsors and finalizing the bill title and structure. The substantive policy content regarding the fund, grants, and board composition remains identical to the previous version.
Scope change
The scope and applicability of the bill remain unchanged; this is a procedural update to the bill's text.
TECHNICAL

Updated the header to reflect the official bill number (HB 560.1) and added the full list of sponsors.

Reformatted the bill title and introductory sections to match the final authorized print version.

Floor votes · House Mar 19, 2025

How they voted

7523
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 100
Mar 19, 2025
D Democratic42
41 Yea 1
97% Yea
R Republican58
34 Yea 23 Nay 1
58% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
29
Key actions
3
Committee
4
Amendments
1
Mar 25, 2025
Amended
(S) Tabled in Committee - (S) Finance and Claims
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Finance and Claims
upper
Mar 19, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (75-23-2)
house
Feb 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Fish, Wildlife and Parks
lower
Feb 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Fish, Wildlife and Parks
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Fish, Wildlife and Parks
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Tom France
Tom France
DDemocratic
MT
99