---
type: "Bill"
title: "Authorize standing for legislature to bring lawsuit"
description: "Authorize standing for legislature to bring lawsuit"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 518"
citation: "Montana HB 518 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Procedure", "Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Legislature", "State Government"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Mercer"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 56
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2022-12-12T00:02:14+00:00"
last_action: "2023-04-20T23:17:06+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cc32f131-f714-4f7a-8746-a5d3122b5d90"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC4027"
source_hash: "a5f769a0ee958486f76c8f99350a40ab07f9ff02592d77fbc391304bd0bf845a"
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 518 (2023) — Authorize standing for legislature to bring lawsuit

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0518.001.002.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8424)
2. **HB0518.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8423)
3. **HB0518.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8422)
4. **HB0518.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=57127)
5. **HB0518_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8425)
6. **HB0518_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8427)
7. **HB0518_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8426)

## Votes

- (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred — **94–5** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **7–4** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **70–29** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **66–32** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred as Amended — **32–18** (pass) · upper
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **13–6** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **33–17** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate — **68–31** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Carried — **34–16** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bill Mercer — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-04-20T23:17:06+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-04-20T19:54:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-13T14:45:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-12T18:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-07T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-06T22:29:28+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-06T20:29:25+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-04T02:17:36+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-04T01:51:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-03T18:30:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-31T22:33:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-31T20:30:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-29T20:36:05+00:00** (S) Returned to House with Amendments
- **2023-03-28T21:30:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-28T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-24T21:29:17+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-03-24T19:55:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred as Amended `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-24T19:39:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Carried `reading-2`
- **2023-03-24T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-24T03:35:32+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-03-21T19:08:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-21T14:00:01+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-21T14:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-13T19:34:12+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-01T17:31:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-01T00:10:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-02-28T23:54:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-27T20:47:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-27T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-24T20:30:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-23T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-21T15:00:23+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-15T20:19:16+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-15T19:22:00+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-15T19:05:28+00:00** (C) Legal Review Note
- **2023-02-14T17:36:41+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-13T20:15:21+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-02-13T15:01:43+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-02-10T22:43:22+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-10T15:12:36+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-02-10T15:12:32+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-10T14:14:15+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-02-10T04:16:01+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-02-10T01:52:27+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-10T01:52:26+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-02-09T22:37:45+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-02-09T19:14:21+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-02-07T21:03:43+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-02-01T15:08:20+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-02-01T00:44:30+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-01-31T22:21:33+00:00** (C) Draft Back for Requester Changes
- **2023-01-30T04:29:26+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-01-27T15:47:01+00:00** (C) Draft Back for Requester Changes
- **2023-01-22T22:58:39+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-01-15T23:45:27+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-12-12T00:02:14+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/cc32f131-f714-4f7a-8746-a5d3122b5d90`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).