# Montana HB 251: Generally revise laws related to public charter schools Montana HB 251, Generally revise laws related to public charter schools, is a 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) House bill sponsored by David Bedey (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-05 (Chapter Number Assigned); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB251-2025 - 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 251 - State: Montana - Session: 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) - Title: Generally revise laws related to public charter schools - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-01-17 - Last action: 2025-05-05, Chapter Number Assigned - Sponsor: David Bedey (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Education - K-12, Education - School Finance - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 4 (267 yes, 30 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 7 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - No tuition and special ed support: benefit, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, public charter school districts cannot charge tuition or fees. Usual out‑of‑district attendance rules do not apply to these districts. For children with disabilities, the resident school district must help pay required education costs when the child attends a charter distric… - Charter money management and donations: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, county treasurers keep charter school money in separate accounts, and each charter reports finances every year. Charter boards can seek and use gifts, keep unspent funds for future years, and receive donations through Montana’s innovative education tax credit program. Charte… - New charter districts and funding rules: mixed, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, Montana recognizes public charter school districts that are not taxing entities. State aid is set by rate: 80% of basic entitlement, 80% of per‑ANB, 100% of quality educator, at‑risk, Indian education, American Indian achievement gap, and data‑for‑achievement, and 140% of sp… - Stricter approval and cost guardrails: mixed, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, the statewide Board of Public Education is the only body that can approve charter contracts. Each year by June 1, the Board issues an RFP and relies on state fiscal analyses. Approvals must favor personalized and proficiency‑based learning, weigh community support and projec… - Charter staff not bound by district contracts: mixed, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, charter school employees cannot be forced into an existing district collective bargaining agreement. The law protects workers’ rights to organize and bans discrimination. Pay and work terms are set by the charter employer, not a district union contract. - Contracting and wages for charter vendors: mixed, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, charter schools must use competitive bidding for any purchase or contract over $80,000. Their contracts and leases are exempt from prevailing wage rules. Vendors may face lower wage costs and more bid chances, while workers on those jobs may have weaker wage protections. - Charter authority clarified, waivers ended: mixed, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, the law defines what counts as a public charter school district and clarifies which state bodies oversee it. The Board can no longer waive state law in charter contracts. This tightens compliance and makes the scope of charter powers clearer. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: David Bedey (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jacinda Morigeau (Democrat), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-10 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 47 | 1 | | | 2025-04-08 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 48 | 2 | | | 2025-02-11 | House | Do Pass | pass | 85 | 14 | | | 2025-02-10 | House | Do Pass | pass | 87 | 13 | | ## Actions (30) - 2025-05-05: Chapter Number Assigned (House) - 2025-05-01: Signed by Governor (House) - 2025-04-22: Transmitted to Governor (House) - 2025-04-22: Signed by President (Senate) - 2025-04-18: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2025-04-11: Returned from Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-10: Sent to Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-10: 3rd Reading (Senate) - 2025-04-08: 2nd Reading (Senate) - 2025-03-28: Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-03-27: Committee Executive Action (Senate) - 2025-03-19: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-03-17: Hearing Canceled (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Referred to Committee (Senate) - 2025-02-12: 1st Reading (Senate) - 2025-02-11: Transmitted to Senate (House) - 2025-02-11: 3rd Reading (House) - 2025-02-10: 2nd Reading (House) - 2025-02-04: Committee Report (House) - 2025-02-03: Committee Executive Action (House) - 2025-02-03: Committee Executive Action (House) - 2025-01-27: Fiscal Note Printed (House) - 2025-01-27: Fiscal Note Signed (House) - 2025-01-27: Fiscal Note Received (House) - 2025-01-22: Hearing (House) - 2025-01-22: Hearing Canceled (House) - 2025-01-20: 1st Reading (House) - 2025-01-20: Referred to Committee (House) - 2025-01-17: Fiscal Note Requested (House) - 2025-01-17: Introduced (House) ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2025-04-15: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=00566f10-e280-4535-a4c2-8e0b762a8425) - Introduced, 2025-01-17: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=aa8d3569-d27c-4aee-a06b-ea2ea6643c22) ## 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=00566f10-e280-4535-a4c2-8e0b762a8425) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=aa8d3569-d27c-4aee-a06b-ea2ea6643c22) ## 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-HB251-2025 (as of 2026-10-12).