---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise water right laws related to exempt wells"
description: "Revise water right laws related to exempt wells"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 435"
citation: "Montana HB 435 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Dams (same as: Water)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["John Fitzpatrick"]
version_count: 12
action_count: 47
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-11-15T19:54:43+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-19T19:45:23+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3a5c5ab7-ab8a-4f16-b02f-37bc2b46d578"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC1236"
source_hash: "387bb00586264b3bc8bdee1d023a5bdf59047272370ce16a49af6fd652f44b86"
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 435 (2023) — Revise water right laws related to exempt wells

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0435.001.001.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12582)
2. **HB0435.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12579)
3. **HB0435.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12583)
4. **HB0435.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12590)
5. **HB0435.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12594)
6. **HB0435001SCH19679.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12585)
7. **HB0435001SCH20735.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12589)
8. **HB0435LOS230412.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12588)
9. **HB0435NAH230217.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12580)
10. **HB0435_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12592)
11. **HB0435_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12591)
12. **HB0435_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12593)

## Votes

- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **100–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **12–3** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **98–1** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **50–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- John Fitzpatrick — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-19T19:45:23+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-18T22:53:11+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-08T16:20:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-04T18:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-29T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-23T19:06:34+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-23T19:06:33+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-20T15:17:43+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-19T02:33:00+00:00** (S) Returned to House
- **2023-04-18T22:04:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-18T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-17T19:27:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-17T16:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-13T19:37:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-12T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-05T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-30T22:04:44+00:00** (S) Hearing Canceled
- **2023-03-29T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-15T22:09:58+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-28T20:48:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-28T15:38:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-02-27T22:20:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-27T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-02-24T22:00:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-24T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-21T21:12:34+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-21T20:12:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-17T22:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-15T21:14:38+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-02-13T22:00:09+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-08T20:09:29+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-08T18:22:45+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-07T16:41:42+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-07T16:20:19+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-01-25T18:08:49+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-25T16:10:53+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-01-25T16:10:50+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-24T20:43:25+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-01-24T20:29:31+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-01-24T00:48:08+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-24T00:48:07+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-01-16T19:19:52+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-01-11T20:13:29+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-01-10T21:24:35+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-01-04T18:19:12+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-12-12T17:54:23+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-11-15T19:54:43+00:00** (C) Draft Request Received `receipt`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3a5c5ab7-ab8a-4f16-b02f-37bc2b46d578`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).