# Montana HB 227: Establish a contingent litigation fund for occupational licensing boards and programs

Montana HB 227, Establish a contingent litigation fund for occupational licensing boards and programs, is a 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) House bill sponsored by Jodee Etchart (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-04-17 (Chapter Number Assigned); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB227-2025
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Montana HB 227
- State: Montana
- Session: 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025)
- Title: Establish a contingent litigation fund for occupational licensing boards and programs
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-01-15
- Last action: 2025-04-17, Chapter Number Assigned
- Sponsor: Jodee Etchart (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Subjects: Labor and Employment, Revenue, State, Rule Making, Appropriations
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 4 (260 yes, 38 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 2

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Legal cost backstop for small licensing boards: benefit, medium. The law creates a state fund to help pay legal costs in license discipline cases. It covers costs above $15,000 for boards or programs with a three-year average revenue of $200,000 or less, when money is available. Payments for a case can continue even if a board later exceeds that revenue. The fun…
- Up to $25 fee for some licensees: cost, low. The department may charge up to $25 per year per licensee. It is added to new or renewal applications and is the same for all covered boards. The fee applies only to licensees of the covered boards or programs. It is not collected in years when the fund has more than $300,000 on March 31. Begins Ju…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Jodee Etchart (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Bruce "Butch" Gillespie (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Wendy McKamey (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-04-01 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 35 | 15 |   |
| 2025-03-31 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 35 | 15 |   |
| 2025-02-03 | House | Do Pass | pass | 94 | 5 |   |
| 2025-01-31 | House | Do Pass | pass | 96 | 3 |   |

## Actions (28)

- 2025-04-17: Chapter Number Assigned (House)
- 2025-04-16: Signed by Governor (House)
- 2025-04-09: Transmitted to Governor (House)
- 2025-04-09: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2025-04-07: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2025-04-02: Returned from Enrolling (House)
- 2025-04-01: Sent to Enrolling (House)
- 2025-04-01: 3rd Reading (Senate)
- 2025-03-31: 2nd Reading (Senate)
- 2025-03-20: Committee Report (Senate)
- 2025-03-19: Committee Executive Action (Senate)
- 2025-02-25: Hearing (Senate)
- 2025-02-18: Referred to Committee (Senate)
- 2025-02-04: 1st Reading (Senate)
- 2025-02-03: Transmitted to Senate (House)
- 2025-02-03: 3rd Reading (House)
- 2025-01-31: 2nd Reading (House)
- 2025-01-28: Committee Report (House)
- 2025-01-28: Fiscal Note Printed (House)
- 2025-01-27: Fiscal Note Signed (House)
- 2025-01-27: Fiscal Note Received (House)
- 2025-01-27: Committee Executive Action (House)
- 2025-01-27: Committee Executive Action (House)
- 2025-01-20: Hearing (House)
- 2025-01-16: 1st Reading (House)
- 2025-01-16: Referred to Committee (House)
- 2025-01-15: Fiscal Note Requested (House)
- 2025-01-15: Introduced (House)

## Bill text

- Enrolled, 2025-04-15: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=5411977f-2fd7-4ac9-b66c-5bd2457db48d)
- Introduced, 2025-01-15: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=7cc1bf1b-51e9-4352-adde-a608434ae97f)

## Related bills

- SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law (signed)
- HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit (vetoed)
- HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws (vetoed)
- SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act (vetoed)
- SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer (vetoed)
- SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program (vetoed)

## Sources
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=5411977f-2fd7-4ac9-b66c-5bd2457db48d)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=7cc1bf1b-51e9-4352-adde-a608434ae97f)

## Related
- [SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB437-2025)
- [HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB831-2025)
- [HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB628-2025)
- [SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB410-2025)
- [SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB422-2025)
- [SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB424-2025)
- [Montana bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana/bills)
- [Montana state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB227-2025 (as of 2026-10-12).