# Montana HB 516: Move workers' compensation court to judicial branch Montana HB 516, Move workers' compensation court to judicial branch, is a 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) House bill sponsored by Ken Walsh (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-19 (Chapter Number Assigned); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB516-2025 - 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 516 - State: Montana - Session: 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) - Title: Move workers' compensation court to judicial branch - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-02-14 - Last action: 2025-05-19, Chapter Number Assigned - Sponsor: Ken Walsh (Republican) - Cosponsors: 2 - Subjects: Courts, Juries and Jurors, Workers' Compensation, Retirement, Money Transfer - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 7 (509 yes, 36 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 2 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - New court for workers’ comp cases: mixed, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, workers’ compensation cases go to a new court under the Montana Supreme Court. The Governor appoints the judge to a six-year term. The judge works full time and cannot practice law privately. The Supreme Court runs the court and pays salaries and expenses using legislative a… - Retirement choice for workers’ comp judge: mixed, low. Starting July 1, 2025, the workers’ compensation judge is in the Montana Judges’ Retirement System. If the judge is an active PERS member on that date, they can choose to stay in PERS. The judge must notify the Public Employees’ Retirement Board in writing by October 1, 2025. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Ken Walsh (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Andrea Olsen (Democrat), Senate - Cosponsor: Willis Curdy (Democrat), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-17 | House | Do Concur | pass | 98 | 1 | | | 2025-04-16 | House | Do Concur | pass | 100 | 0 | | | 2025-04-12 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 39 | 11 | | | 2025-04-09 | Senate | Do Concur As Amended | pass | 31 | 19 | | | 2025-04-09 | Senate | AMD-HB0516.001.001 Curdy D/PASS | pass | 49 | 1 | | | 2025-03-03 | House | Do Pass | pass | 95 | 2 | | | 2025-02-28 | House | Do Pass | pass | 97 | 2 | | ## Actions (44) - 2025-05-19: Chapter Number Assigned (House) - 2025-05-13: Signed by Governor (House) - 2025-05-07: Transmitted to Governor (House) - 2025-05-06: Signed by President (Senate) - 2025-05-02: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2025-04-22: Returned from Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-18: Sent to Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-17: 3rd Reading Senate Amendments (House) - 2025-04-17: Revised Fiscal Note Signed (House) - 2025-04-16: Revised Fiscal Note Received (House) - 2025-04-16: 2nd Reading Senate Amendments (House) - 2025-04-12: Returned to House with Amendments (Senate) - 2025-04-12: 3rd Reading (Senate) - 2025-04-11: Revised Fiscal Note Requested (House) - 2025-04-11: Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-04-11: Committee Executive Action (Senate) - 2025-04-10: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Rereferred to Committee (Senate) - 2025-04-09: 2nd Reading (Senate) - 2025-04-09: 2nd Reading Motion to Amend (Senate) - 2025-03-20: Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-03-20: Committee Executive Action (Senate) - 2025-03-15: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-03-04: Referred to Committee (Senate) - 2025-03-04: 1st Reading (Senate) - 2025-03-03: Transmitted to Senate (House) - 2025-03-03: 3rd Reading (House) - 2025-03-01: Committee Report (House) - 2025-02-28: Committee Executive Action (House) - 2025-02-28: Hearing (House) - 2025-02-28: Rereferred to Committee (House) - 2025-02-28: 2nd Reading (House) - 2025-02-27: 2nd Reading Pass Consideration (House) - 2025-02-25: Committee Report (House) - 2025-02-25: Committee Executive Action (House) - 2025-02-24: Fiscal Note Printed (House) - 2025-02-24: Hearing (House) - 2025-02-22: Fiscal Note Signed (House) - 2025-02-21: Fiscal Note Received (House) - 2025-02-19: Hearing (House) - 2025-02-17: 1st Reading (House) - 2025-02-17: Referred to Committee (House) - 2025-02-14: Fiscal Note Requested (House) - 2025-02-14: Introduced (House) ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2025-04-22: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=3bc0ff3c-51e3-4d1c-ad47-7a1e0fd7cafb) - As Amended (Version 2), 2025-04-09: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=e85bb510-4b1f-423c-bafa-899520d0a128) - Introduced, 2025-02-14: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=259e42ef-610f-44d5-a581-a715d0ee4d9d) ## 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=3bc0ff3c-51e3-4d1c-ad47-7a1e0fd7cafb) - [As Amended (Version 2) (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=e85bb510-4b1f-423c-bafa-899520d0a128) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=259e42ef-610f-44d5-a581-a715d0ee4d9d) ## 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-HB516-2025 (as of 2026-10-12).