---
type: "Bill"
title: "Clarifying use of river basin councils"
description: "Clarifying use of river basin councils"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 20"
citation: "Montana SB 20 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Water"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jill Cohenour"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 50
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-10-21"
last_action: "2021-04-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/08c9bd8f-c99c-4bb2-a556-4db4ea28723b"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=20&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20211"
source_hash: "ce2201b42a780137fac9ffc4a8ef84b9188d048fcfa2bf4a12793f5a6e44ac0c"
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 SB 20 (2021) — Clarifying use of river basin councils

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0020_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0099//SB0020_1.pdf)
2. **SB0020_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0099//SB0020_X.pdf)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billpdf/SB0020.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **31–19** (pass) · upper
- BE CONCURRED IN — **9–6** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **53–45** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **67–33** (pass) · lower
- DO PASS — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **33–17** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jill Cohenour — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-10-21** Draft Request Received
- **2020-10-23** Draft in Legal Review
- **2020-11-03** Draft in Edit
- **2020-11-23** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2020-11-30** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2020-11-30** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2020-11-30** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2020-12-03** Executive Director Review
- **2020-12-03** Draft in Assembly
- **2020-12-11** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2020-12-11** Introduced `introduction`
- **2020-12-23** Referred to Committee - (S) Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-12-23** Fiscal Note Requested
- **2021-01-04** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-01-05** Fiscal Note Received
- **2021-01-05** Sponsor Rebuttal to Fiscal Note Received
- **2021-01-05** Sponsor Rebuttal to Fiscal Note Signed
- **2021-01-06** Fiscal Note Printed
- **2021-01-06** Sponsor Rebuttal to Fiscal Note Printed
- **2021-01-07** Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2021-01-11** Hearing - (S) Natural Resources
- **2021-01-12** Revised Fiscal Note Received
- **2021-01-12** Revised Fiscal Note Signed
- **2021-01-12** Revised Fiscal Note Printed
- **2021-01-13** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed - (S) Natural Resources `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-14** Committee Report--Bill Passed - (S) Natural Resources `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-20** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-01-20** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-21** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-01-21** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-21** Transmitted to House
- **2021-01-25** Referred to Committee - (H) Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-25** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-03-10** Hearing - (H) Natural Resources
- **2021-03-11** Amendments Available
- **2021-03-12** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred - (H) Natural Resources
- **2021-03-16** Committee Report--Bill Concurred - (H) Natural Resources
- **2021-03-24** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-03-24** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2021-03-25** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-03-25** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-25** Returned to Senate
- **2021-03-26** Sent to Enrolling
- **2021-03-31** Returned from Enrolling
- **2021-03-31** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2021-04-07** Signed by President
- **2021-04-12** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-04-13** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-23** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-23** 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/08c9bd8f-c99c-4bb2-a556-4db4ea28723b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).