HB 948 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise insurance laws to provide that the Commissioner of Insurance's office is not a criminal justice agency

HB 948 clarifies that the office of the Commissioner of Insurance is not considered a criminal justice agency. This bill specifies that the department must refer all criminal matters, such as those related to violations of insurance laws, to the attorney general, the relevant county attorney, or another appropriate criminal justice agency with jurisdiction. This change defines the scope of the Commissioner's office as regulatory oversight and consumer protection, rather than criminal investigation or prosecution.

Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 31, 2025 Last action May 20, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

LC4274.pdf → HB0948_1.pdf · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was updated to reflect its official House Bill number (HB 948) and the primary sponsors (L. Deming and K. Love) instead of a placeholder draft number. A new procedural requirement was added to the enforcement section, mandating that hearings regarding violations must proceed quickly and limiting the insurance company's ability to conduct discovery to only what is necessary for the specific examiner.

Scope change

The bill's substantive scope regarding insurance law revisions remains unchanged; the changes are primarily administrative updates to the bill's header and a specific procedural addition to the commissioner's enforcement powers.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement that hearings must proceed expeditiously and restricted the insurance company's discovery rights to only what is relevant to the examiner's case.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill header to include the official House Bill number (HB 948) and the names of the primary sponsors, replacing placeholder text.

Changed the document title from a draft identifier (LC 4274) to the official Authorized Print Version for HB 948.

Floor votes · House Apr 3, 2025

How they voted

20–0

Passed

Total votes 20

Apr 3, 2025

D Democratic8

8 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican12

12 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 3, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (20-0)

house

Apr 3, 2025

Amended

(H) Tabled in Committee - (H) Judiciary

lower

Apr 1, 2025

Committee

(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary

lower

Mar 31, 2025

Introduced

(H) Introduced

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors