SB 488 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise consumer protection laws

SB 488 revises consumer protection laws, impacting businesses, the Department of Justice, and individual consumers. The bill explicitly includes false or misleading consumer reviews and testimonials as unfair or deceptive practices. It establishes a 5-year statute of limitations for the Department of Justice to bring action upon discovering unlawful practices and clarifies the timeframe for individuals to file lawsuits. Additionally, it modifies rules for damages and attorney fees in individual consumer actions, including setting a cap on hourly attorney fees and limiting their award based on the amount of actual damages.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

Apr 2025

Introduced Feb 25, 2025 Signed Apr 18, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB0488_1(6).pdf → SB0488_X(1).pdf · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill revises Montana's consumer protection laws to explicitly include false or deceptive consumer reviews and testimonials as unfair practices, clarifies federal law interpretations for enforcement, and updates several sections governing consumer actions, damages, and attorney fees. The changes aim to strengthen protections against misleading consumer reviews and streamline enforcement procedures.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of prohibited unfair practices to specifically include false or deceptive consumer reviews and testimonials that contradict federal law, and clarifies how federal trade commission interpretations should be applied in state proceedings.

DEFINITION

Added explicit inclusion of false, misleading, or deceptive consumer reviews and testimonials as unfair or deceptive acts or practices under consumer protection laws.

ENFORCEMENT

Modified Section 30-14-104 to clarify that state rules must be consistent with federal trade commission rules and decisions when interpreting unfair competition laws.

Modified Section 30-14-111 to maintain the 5-year statute of limitations for department actions to restrain unlawful acts.

REQUIREMENT

Modified Section 30-14-133 to clarify damages provisions, including the $100,000 threshold for attorney fee awards and maintaining the three-times damages multiplier for smaller claims.

Modified Section 30-14-159 to maintain age verification requirements for commercial entities distributing material harmful to minors.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 7, 2025 · House Apr 1, 2025

How they voted

47–2

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 50

Mar 7, 2025

D Democratic18

16 Yea 1 Nay 1

88% Yea

R Republican32

31 Yea 1 Nay

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 17, 2025

Signed into law

(S) Signed by Governor

upper

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Signed by Speaker

lower

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Signed by President

upper

Apr 1, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (97-2-1)

house

Mar 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary

lower

Mar 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary

lower

Mar 17, 2025

Committee

(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (47-2-1)

senate

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Committee

(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary

upper

Feb 25, 2025

Introduced

(S) Introduced

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors