# Montana HB 400: Enact the "Free to Speak Act"

Montana HB 400, Enact the "Free to Speak Act", is a 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) House bill sponsored by Braxton Mitchell (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-05 (Chapter Number Assigned) (as of 2026-10-19).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB400-2025
- As of: 2026-10-19
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Montana HB 400
- State: Montana
- Session: 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025)
- Title: Enact the "Free to Speak Act"
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-02-05
- Last action: 2025-05-05, Chapter Number Assigned
- Sponsor: Braxton Mitchell (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Communications, Discrimination, Education - K-12
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 4 (170 yes, 126 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 2

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Sue public schools over compelled speech: benefit, medium. If you are harmed by a violation, you can sue a public school or the State. You can ask the court to stop the violation, get money damages, and recover reasonable attorney fees and costs. You must file within 2 years of the violation. The law takes effect immediately.
- Public schools cannot compel pronouns or names: benefit, low. Public schools and the State cannot punish you for refusing to share your pronouns. They also cannot punish you for refusing to use a non-legal name or a pronoun or title that does not match a person’s sex. Contracted workers count as employees. Protections apply when employees are acting within th…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Braxton Mitchell (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Barry Usher (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-04-11 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 28 | 20 |   |
| 2025-04-10 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 28 | 22 |   |
| 2025-02-21 | House | Do Pass | pass | 56 | 42 |   |
| 2025-02-20 | House | Do Pass | pass | 58 | 42 |   |

## Actions (23)

- 2025-05-05: Chapter Number Assigned (House)
- 2025-05-01: Signed by Governor (House)
- 2025-04-25: Transmitted to Governor (House)
- 2025-04-25: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2025-04-23: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2025-04-15: Returned from Enrolling (House)
- 2025-04-11: Sent to Enrolling (House)
- 2025-04-11: 3rd Reading (Senate)
- 2025-04-10: 2nd Reading (Senate)
- 2025-04-03: Committee Report (Senate)
- 2025-04-03: Committee Executive Action (Senate)
- 2025-03-28: Hearing (Senate)
- 2025-03-03: Referred to Committee (Senate)
- 2025-02-24: 1st Reading (Senate)
- 2025-02-21: Transmitted to Senate (House)
- 2025-02-21: 3rd Reading (House)
- 2025-02-20: 2nd Reading (House)
- 2025-02-17: Committee Report (House)
- 2025-02-17: Committee Executive Action (House)
- 2025-02-11: Hearing (House)
- 2025-02-06: 1st Reading (House)
- 2025-02-06: Referred to Committee (House)
- 2025-02-05: Introduced (House)

## Bill text

- Enrolled, 2025-04-14: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=cd026fa5-6403-41d0-a2b6-e8de18efa29c)
- As Amended (Version 2), 2025-02-17: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=d296eb63-4bc1-43f6-baf2-b03e2107bf0f)
- Introduced, 2025-02-05: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=2b4d5ebc-4ad1-4282-8970-32494db822b7)

## 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 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program (vetoed)
- SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer (vetoed)

## Sources
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=cd026fa5-6403-41d0-a2b6-e8de18efa29c)
- [As Amended (Version 2) (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=d296eb63-4bc1-43f6-baf2-b03e2107bf0f)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=2b4d5ebc-4ad1-4282-8970-32494db822b7)

## 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 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB424-2025)
- [SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB422-2025)
- [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-HB400-2025 (as of 2026-10-19).