---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise civil liability laws"
description: "Revise civil liability laws"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 65"
citation: "Montana SB 65 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Procedure", "Liability (see also: Remedies; Torts)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Steve Fitzpatrick"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 57
vote_count: 11
first_action: "2020-11-10"
last_action: "2021-02-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ff4a196f-5b02-463f-a77a-defbdc47211e"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=65&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20211"
source_hash: "13e5741ebab882fbb50ecd4fd238ae7e7cd235436349b6ddf9bec8705a332669"
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 65 (2021) — Revise civil liability laws

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0065_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0099//SB0065_2.pdf)
2. **SB0065_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0099//SB0065_3.pdf)
3. **SB0065_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0099//SB0065_X.pdf)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billpdf/SB0065.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Concur — **64–36** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **66–33** (pass) · lower
- BE CONCURRED IN AS AMENDED — **12–8** (pass) · lower
- Suspend Rules Place SB 65 on Third Reading-Smith C — **30–20** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **37–13** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **29–21** (pass) · upper
- AMD-006 Cohenour D/PASS — **20–30** (fail) · upper
- DO PASS AS AMENDED — **8–3** (pass) · upper
- AMD-007 Molnar D/PASS — **7–43** (fail) · upper
- Do Concur — **32–18** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **38–12** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Steve Fitzpatrick — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-11-10** Draft Request Received
- **2020-11-16** Draft On Hold
- **2020-11-20** Draft Taken Off Hold
- **2020-11-24** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2020-12-08** Draft On Hold
- **2020-12-14** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2020-12-14** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2020-12-21** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2020-12-21** Draft in Legal Review
- **2020-12-22** Draft in Edit
- **2020-12-28** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2020-12-29** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2020-12-30** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2020-12-30** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2020-12-30** Executive Director Review
- **2020-12-30** Draft in Assembly
- **2020-12-31** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2020-12-31** Executive Director Final Review
- **2021-01-02** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-01-04** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2021-01-05** Introduced `introduction`
- **2021-01-05** Referred to Committee - (S) Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-05** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2021-01-05** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-01-08** Hearing - (S) Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs
- **2021-01-14** Amendments Available
- **2021-01-15** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended - (S) Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-15** Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended - (S) Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-18** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-01-18** 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Failed `amendment-failure`
- **2021-01-18** 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Failed `amendment-failure`
- **2021-01-18** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-18** On Motion Rules Suspended
- **2021-01-18** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-18** Transmitted to House
- **2021-01-19** Referred to Committee - (H) Business and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-19** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-01-22** Hearing - (H) Business and Labor
- **2021-01-26** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended - (H) Business and Labor
- **2021-01-27** Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended - (H) Business and Labor
- **2021-02-01** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-02-01** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2021-02-02** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-02-02** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** Returned to Senate with Amendments
- **2021-02-03** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-02-03** 2nd Reading House Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2021-02-04** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-02-04** 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by House `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-04** Sent to Enrolling
- **2021-02-08** Returned from Enrolling
- **2021-02-08** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2021-02-09** Signed by President
- **2021-02-09** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-09** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-02-10** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-02-10** 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/ff4a196f-5b02-463f-a77a-defbdc47211e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).