2021 Montana legislative session

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2021 Montana legislative session
Seal of Montana.jpg
General information
Session start:    January 4, 2021

Session end:    April 29, 2021

Leadership
Senate President
Mark Blasdel (R)

House Speaker
Wylie Galt (R)
Majority Leader
Senate: Cary Smith (R)
House: Sue Vinton (R)
Minority Leader
Senate: Jill Cohenour (D)
House: Kim Abbott (D)

Elections
Next Election:    November 8, 2022

Last Election:    November 3, 2020

Previous legislative sessions
2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2021 legislative sessions


In 2021, the Montana State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 4, 2021, and adjourn on April 29, 2021.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2020 elections. Republicans won a 31-18 majority in the Senate and a 67-33 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2021 session, Montana was one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

Redistricting is the process by which states draw new Congressional and state legislative districts following the U.S. Census. Officials sent data from the 2020 U.S. Census to states in early 2021 to begin the process of redistricting. As of the 2020 census, Montana was one of four states where an independent commission was responsible for redistricting.

At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a majority in the Montana state House and state Senate.
  • Montana was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas.
  • Montana's governor was Republican Greg Gianforte.

    • Leadership in 2021

    Montana State Senate

    Montana House of Representatives

    Partisan control in 2021

    See also: State government trifectas

    Montana was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2021 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Montana was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Montana State Legislature in the 2021 legislative session.

    Montana State Senate

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 18
         Republican Party 31
         Independent 1
    Total 50

    Montana House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 33
         Republican Party 67
    Total 100

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2021 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2021. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Redistricting

    See also: Redistricting in Montana after the 2020 census

    Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures.

    To learn more about the redistricting process in Montana after the 2020 census, click here.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Montana state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, there were 39 standing committees in Montana's state government, including 6 joint legislative committees, 17 state Senate committees, and 16 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    Senate committees

    House committees

    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods in which the Montana Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XIV, Montana Constitution and Laws governing the initiative process in Montana
    Montana Constitution
    Flag of Montana.png
    Preamble
    Articles
    I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • XII • XIII • XIV • Schedule

    The Montana Constitution provides three mechanisms for amending the state's constitution—a citizen-initiated process, a legislative process, and a state constitutional convention. Montana requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

    Initiative

    See also: Initiated constitutional amendment

    An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.

    In Montana, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Montana also has a distribution requirement that requires proponents to collect signatures equal to 10% of the qualified electors in each of two-fifths (40) of the state's 100 legislative districts. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required of all members of the legislature during one legislative session for the Montana State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Since Montana has 150 legislators (100 Representatives and 50 Senators), at least 100 members must vote in favor of a constitutional amendment for it to pass. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Section 3, Article XIV of the Montana Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 20 years, if it has not otherwise appeared on the ballot in the last 20 years. Montana is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.

    The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

    State Interval Last question on the ballot Next question on the ballot
    Montana 20 years 2010 2030


    The Montana State Legislature is also authorized to submit a constitutional convention question to voters via a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of both chambers. Citizens may also initiate a constitutional convention question. The number of signatures required to place the question on the ballot is equal to 10% of the qualified electors of the state, including at least 10 percent of the qualified electors in each of two-fifths of the legislative districts. Any amendments proposed by a convention must be ratified by the voters.



    2023 measures:

    See also: 2023 ballot measures

    Certified:

    The following measures were certified for the ballot.

    No measures to list

    2022 measures:

    Below is a list of measures that were referred to the 2022 ballot by the legislature.

    See also: Montana 2022 ballot measures

    Certified:

    The following measures were certified for the ballot.

    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Montana.

    Montana Party Control: 1992-2025
    No Democratic trifectas  •  Fifteen years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R
    Senate D D D R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    House D R R R R R R R R R R R R S S R R S S R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    Historical Senate control

    Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the Montana State Senate was controlled by Republicans for all but six years. The table below shows the partisan history of the Montana State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Montana State Senate election results: 1992-2020

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
    Democrats 30 19 16 18 19 21 27 26 23 22 23 21 18 20 19
    Republicans 20 31 34 32 31 29 23 24 27 28 27 29 32 30 31

    During the 1900s, the Montana Senate was held for periods of time by both the Democratic and Republican parties.[1] In the early 1990s, Democrats controlled the Montana Senate until Republicans took over the chamber in the 1994 election. From 1990 to 2018, Democrats held the chamber between the 1990 and 1994 elections and the 2004 and 2006 elections. Democrats held their largest majority following the 1992 election with a 10-seat advantage.

    Republicans gained 11 seats in the 1994 election and took control of the chamber. From 1994 to 2020, Republicans maintained their majority in the chamber with the exception of the years between the 2004 election and the 2006 election when Democrats controlled the chamber. Republicans held their largest majority following the 1996 election when they held the chamber with an 18-seat majority. The Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    Historical House control

    Between 1992 and 2020, the Montana House of Representatives was controlled by Republicans with the exception of four years when the chamber was tied. The table below shows the partisan history of the Montana House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Montana House of Representatives election results: 1992-2020

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
    Democrats 47 33 35 41 42 47 50 49 50 32 37 41 41 42 33
    Republicans 53 67 65 59 58 53 50 50 50 68 63 59 59 58 67
    Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

    The Montana State Legislature convened its first legislative session in 1889. Between 1889 and 2017, Republicans held the Montana House of Representatives for almost 20 years longer than Democrats. During those same years, the partisan balance in the state House was tied between Republicans and Democrats from 1893 to 1894, 2005 to 2006, and 2009 to 2010.[2]

    Between 1889 and 1992, the Montana House of Representative was controlled for periods of time by both the Democratic and Republican parties. Since the 1992 elections, the Republican Party has controlled the state House with the exception of four years when the chamber was tied. While the state House was tied from 2005 to 2006 and 2009 to 2010, Democrats elected the speaker of the House. According to Montana law, when a chamber is tied, the political party that controls the governor's office chooses the speaker. Democrats controlled the governor's office during those years. After the chamber became tied in the 2008 elections, Republicans regained a majority in the 2010 elections, picking up 18 seats to win a 68-32 majority. The Republican gains in 2010 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    The Republican majority in the Montana House lost seats between the 2012 and 2018 elections before regaining a supermajority in 2020.

    See also

    Elections Montana State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    State Courts-Tile image.png

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ The Montana Legislature, "Majority and Minority Party Numbers 1889 - Present," accessed August 24, 2017
    2. ↑ Montana Legislature, "Majority and Minority Party Numbers: 1889 - Present," accessed August 30, 2017
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