---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise laws for ballot wording for bonds and levies"
description: "Revise laws for ballot wording for bonds and levies"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 543"
citation: "Montana HB 543 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Ballot Issues (see also: Elections)", "Bond Issues", "Public", "Elections (see also: Ballot Issues)", "Local Finance (see also: City Finance; County Finance)", "School Finance", "Taxation (Generally)", "Taxation--Property"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jedediah Hinkle"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 48
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-11-30T22:06:29+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-04T17:59:45+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/12931c13-27dc-41fd-8b40-d21ec8776099"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC1890"
source_hash: "df302523be3f436dc02e574d7b2154a1b42a53dc3e0a621c7dd16912605ad5f7"
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 543 (2023) — Revise laws for ballot wording for bonds and levies

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0543.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8631)
2. **HB0543.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8632)
3. **HB0543_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8633)
4. **HB0543_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8635)
5. **HB0543_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8634)

## Votes

- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **78–22** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **16–5** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **77–22** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **33–17** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **8–2** (pass) · upper
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **33–17** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jedediah Hinkle — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-04T17:59:45+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-03T23:13:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-27T16:30:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-26T22:30:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-21T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-19T22:45:19+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-19T22:45:18+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-18T01:37:24+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-17T22:15:06+00:00** (S) Returned to House
- **2023-04-14T19:38:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-14T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-13T19:33:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-13T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-11T19:07:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-07T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-05T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-04-01T02:36:34+00:00** (S) Hearing Canceled
- **2023-03-14T14:16:39+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-10T00:13:43+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-03T17:19:09+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-03-03T04:12:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-02T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-02T00:03:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-01T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-28T16:43:27+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-27T20:50:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-27T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-24T19:17:43+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-02-23T15:00:01+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-16T20:31:51+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-16T18:27:37+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-14T22:22:26+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-14T20:46:20+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-02-13T18:54:45+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-02-09T00:37:22+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-08T22:29:39+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-02-08T22:29:34+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-08T22:03:08+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-02-08T21:13:41+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-02-08T21:06:45+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-08T21:06:44+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-02-08T18:26:56+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-02-08T18:13:28+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-02-05T06:02:17+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-02-04T18:13:05+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-02-02T19:30:57+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-01-31T20:44:31+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-11-30T22:06:29+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/12931c13-27dc-41fd-8b40-d21ec8776099`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).