---
type: "Bill"
title: "Provide for Highway Patrol meritorious service recognition"
description: "Provide for Highway Patrol meritorious service recognition"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 491"
citation: "Montana HB 491 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public Officers and Employees", "Retirement (see also: Senior Citizens)", "State Government"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Steve Gunderson"]
version_count: 15
action_count: 51
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2022-12-03T20:36:30+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-19T16:54:59+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e45b7c3f-23ff-4ddb-809b-9797d2fe5b70"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC2393"
source_hash: "ffe657339fd6ff8f3eecdd884b817c4d7afc4dd504e649573966c2048c6135bf"
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 491 (2023) — Provide for Highway Patrol meritorious service recognition

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0491.001.001.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10298)
2. **HB0491.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10302)
3. **HB0491.002.001.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10299)
4. **HB0491.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10296)
5. **HB0491.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10300)
6. **HB0491.003.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10303)
7. **HB0491.003.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10305)
8. **HB0491001SCH17693.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10297)
9. **HB0491002CWH18716.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10304)
10. **HB0491003SCH17704.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10301)
11. **HB0491_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10310)
12. **HB0491_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10309)
13. **HB0491_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10306)
14. **HB0491_4.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10307)
15. **HB0491_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10308)

## Votes

- (H) 2nd Reading Passed as Amended — **100–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **48–2** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **47–1** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **9–3** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Carried — **100–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred — **100–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Steve Gunderson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-19T16:54:59+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-18T22:59:20+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-08T16:20:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-04T23:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-05-04T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-02T17:04:40+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-05-02T17:04:39+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-28T22:00:51+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-28T19:55:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-28T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-27T14:28:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-27T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-13T15:25:31+00:00** (S) Returned to House with Amendments
- **2023-04-12T19:53:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-12T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-11T23:46:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-11T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-05T19:58:00+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-04-05T19:43:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-04-04T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-30T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-13T19:23:37+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-27T20:34:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-27T18:50:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-02-24T23:18:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-22T23:04:44+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-22T21:09:01+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed as Amended `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-22T21:09:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Carried `reading-2`
- **2023-02-17T22:05:32+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-17T20:35:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-17T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-16T15:00:50+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-16T00:15:12+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-02-13T20:17:39+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-13T17:45:06+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-10T19:17:14+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-10T17:30:30+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-02-10T17:06:32+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-02-09T18:07:57+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-09T14:42:03+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-02-09T14:41:58+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-09T12:42:15+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-02-08T23:29:11+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-02-08T22:13:42+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-08T22:13:41+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-02-08T19:50:57+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-02-08T19:26:23+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-02-05T18:06:28+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-02-05T17:27:14+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-02-05T00:56:02+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-12-03T20:36:30+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/e45b7c3f-23ff-4ddb-809b-9797d2fe5b70`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).