Allow the term "emotional disability" to be used instead of "emotional disturbance" as it relates to special education
House Bill 866 allows the term "emotional disability" to be used instead of "emotional disturbance" as it relates to special education services within the Montana Code Annotated and Administrative Rules of Montana. This change directly affects how special education needs are referred to in state documents and communications. The bill also appropriates $100 to the Office of Public Instruction to inform the public about this permissible terminology change in its publications. This act is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2025.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
May 2025
Senate Passage
May 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Mar 25, 2025
Signed May 19, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
HB0866_X(4).pdf
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HB0866_X(5).pdf
·
1 edit
MINOR
The bill text was updated to remove a period at the end of the title, and the document was finalized by removing the 'END' marker and extra blank lines. These are purely technical formatting adjustments that do not alter the bill's legal content, scope, or requirements.
TECHNICAL
Removed a trailing period from the bill title and deleted the 'END' marker and extra spacing, which are standard formatting edits for finalizing a document.
Floor votes · Senate Apr 18, 2025 · House Apr 2, 2025
How they voted
29–21
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 18, 2025
D
Democratic18
100% Yea
R
Republican32
65% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
40
Key actions
9
Committee
6
May 13, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
May 6, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
May 2, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 18, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (29-21)
senate
Apr 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Education and Cultural Resources
upper
Apr 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Education and Cultural Resources
upper
Apr 3, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Education and Cultural Resources
upper
Apr 2, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (60-35-5)
house
Mar 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Education
lower
Mar 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Education
lower
Mar 26, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Education
lower
Mar 25, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Melissa Romano
DDemocratic
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