Legislative Update 2/18/25
Transmittal is three weeks away. If you’re wondering what transmittal is, it’s the date that bills must have passed the chamber they were introduced in and been transmitted to the other chamber. What this means for us is that we anticipate a lot of bills being introduced in the next week, along with a significant number of hearings. On top of that, we are starting to have hearings on bills that have already been transmitted. The good news is that after transmittal, we will have a better idea of what we are dealing with for the remainder of the session.
Hearings this week
HB 492: Revise municipal zoning laws related to parking requirements
(H) Local Gov. 02/18/25 3pm Rm 472
This bill is very prescriptive and requires local governments to pay for parking beyond the minimum requirements, which establishes a very dangerous precedent in statute.
Opposed
SB 252: Revise land use laws related to manufactured and factory-built homes
(S) Local Gov. 02/19/25 3:00 pm Room 405
We believe this bill would exempt mobile and manufactured homes from all zoning requirements. There is a simple fix to this bill that keeps the sponsor’s intent, and we are working on that approach.
Opposed without amendments
SB 304: Revise Montana lakeshore laws
(S) Natural Resources 02/19/25 3pm Rm 303
We suspect this is addressing a very specific issue. We are not going to get involved at this point.
Watch
Upcoming
SB 336: Revise laws related to short-term rentals (new)
SB 175: Allow for a streamlined public hearing notice process when revising zoning
SB 174: Provide that recreational vehicles and mobile homes are reviewed as buildings for rent or lease
HB 233: Provide for the transfer of title of open spaces in final plats to HOAs
General Updates
SB 146: Creating the Private Property Protection Act – Good news here after some drama. This bill failed to pass the Senate and is dead for now. We know some of you in key areas worked with your local elected officials to keep some votes as “no.” Thanks for your support.
