---
type: "Bill"
title: "Provide for the best beginnings scholarship program"
description: "Provide for the best beginnings scholarship program"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 648"
citation: "Montana HB 648 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Appropriations (see also: State Finance)", "Family Law (see also: Minors)", "Minors (see also: Family Law)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alice Buckley"]
version_count: 22
action_count: 71
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2022-12-03T19:27:09+00:00"
last_action: "2023-06-14T22:34:54+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4f496abd-0d4c-465f-ae6b-96e4f85c62f4"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC2332"
source_hash: "c89d994657b3685d990e3a4c8f0f20bccc7c72657fecaf5e758472263a545653"
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 648 (2023) — Provide for the best beginnings scholarship program

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0648.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9573)
2. **HB0648.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9570)
3. **HB0648.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9567)
4. **HB0648.001.004_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9569)
5. **HB0648.001.005_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9568)
6. **HB0648.001.006_combo_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9574)
7. **HB0648.001.006_combo_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9572)
8. **HB0648.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9565)
9. **HB0648.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9575)
10. **HB0648.002.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full - condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9576)
11. **HB0648.002.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9566)
12. **HB0648.002.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9571)
13. **HB0648001SCH.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9580)
14. **HB0648001SCH12545.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9579)
15. **HB0648001SCH19681.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9577)
16. **HB0648001SCH20711.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9578)
17. **HB0648001SCH20717.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9582)
18. **HB0648002SCH13870.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9581)
19. **HB0648_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9589)
20. **HB0648_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9586)
21. **HB0648_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9588)
22. **HB0648_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9587)

## Votes

- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **12–11** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **29–20** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **9–1** (pass) · upper
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **13–8** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **10–9** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **55–45** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **65–34** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **51–49** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **27–23** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Alice Buckley — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-06-14T22:34:54+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-06-13T21:57:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-06-13T21:15:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-12T22:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-05-04T21:31:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-02T22:00:00+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-05-02T21:14:05+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-05-01T17:12:21+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-29T00:26:17+00:00** (S) Returned to House
- **2023-04-28T19:45:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-28T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-27T19:48:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-27T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-24T18:56:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-21T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-20T14:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-04-19T21:31:00+00:00** (S) Rereferred to Committee `referral-committee, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-19T21:20:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-19T15:30:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-07T14:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-04-06T01:04:39+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-04-05T23:33:09+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Unsigned
- **2023-04-05T23:00:24+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-05T20:31:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-04-04T20:46:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-04-04T19:55:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-04T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-04T18:47:05+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-04-03T21:09:48+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-04-03T18:07:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-03T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-31T20:35:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-31T19:48:52+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-03-31T14:30:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-28T21:00:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-03-27T20:40:00+00:00** (H) Rereferred to Committee `referral-committee, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-27T20:29:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-22T23:31:37+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-03-22T19:44:44+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Signed
- **2023-03-22T17:32:18+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-03-20T20:19:27+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-03-20T19:57:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-20T18:25:19+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-03-17T21:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-17T15:24:20+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-03-14T21:00:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-28T15:35:05+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-02-27T20:06:00+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Signed
- **2023-02-27T17:54:32+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-02-21T20:42:13+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-20T17:58:24+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-18T00:26:24+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-02-18T00:25:50+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-18T00:24:31+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-02-17T16:56:38+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-02-15T22:27:32+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-15T17:10:41+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-02-15T17:10:37+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-15T16:19:17+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-02-15T15:50:36+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-02-15T15:47:42+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-15T15:47:41+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-02-15T15:30:39+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-02-15T14:29:32+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-02-15T06:24:15+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-02-15T02:15:32+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-02-14T21:58:43+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-02-14T15:46:39+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-02-08T04:13:00+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-02-07T16:39:52+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-12-03T19:27:09+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/4f496abd-0d4c-465f-ae6b-96e4f85c62f4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).