---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise governor's power to spend certain unanticipated federal funds"
description: "Revise governor's power to spend certain unanticipated federal funds"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 159"
citation: "Montana HB 159 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Emergency and Disaster Services", "Legislature", "State Government"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Llew Jones"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 50
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-09-30"
last_action: "2021-04-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/32bdfb17-eeaa-4199-acc0-9d066e57a80b"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=159&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=HB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20211"
source_hash: "3eee5f206897c0da563d6a53c1bfc918d6e5e5b6286741a842eae6883c4f445e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-mt"]
---

# Montana HB 159 (2021) — Revise governor's power to spend certain unanticipated federal funds

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB0159_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/HB0199//HB0159_1.pdf)
2. **HB0159_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/HB0199//HB0159_X.pdf)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billpdf/HB0159.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Concur — **38–12** (pass) · upper
- DO PASS — **12–7** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **36–14** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **96–4** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **91–9** (pass) · lower
- BE CONCURRED IN — **5–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Llew Jones — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-09-30** Draft Request Received
- **2020-12-01** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2020-12-02** Draft Back for Requester Changes
- **2020-12-30** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2021-01-02** Draft in Legal Review
- **2021-01-02** Draft in Edit
- **2021-01-06** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2021-01-06** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2021-01-07** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2021-01-07** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2021-01-09** Executive Director Review
- **2021-01-10** Draft in Assembly
- **2021-01-11** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-01-11** Executive Director Final Review
- **2021-01-11** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-01-13** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2021-01-13** Introduced `introduction`
- **2021-01-13** Fiscal Note Requested
- **2021-01-13** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2021-01-14** Referred to Committee - (H) State Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-14** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-01-19** Hearing - (H) State Administration
- **2021-01-19** Fiscal Note Received
- **2021-01-20** Fiscal Note Signed
- **2021-01-20** Fiscal Note Printed
- **2021-01-20** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed - (H) State Administration `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-20** Committee Report--Bill Passed - (H) State Administration `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-27** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-01-27** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-28** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-01-28** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-28** Transmitted to Senate
- **2021-01-29** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-01-29** Referred to Committee - (S) State Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-15** Hearing - (S) State Administration
- **2021-02-19** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred - (S) State Administration
- **2021-02-20** Committee Report--Bill Concurred - (S) State Administration
- **2021-03-26** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-03-26** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2021-03-29** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-03-29** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-29** Returned to House
- **2021-03-30** Sent to Enrolling
- **2021-03-31** Returned from Enrolling
- **2021-03-31** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2021-04-07** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-04-08** Signed by President
- **2021-04-09** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-15** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-16** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/32bdfb17-eeaa-4199-acc0-9d066e57a80b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).