---
type: "Bill"
title: "Remove sunset for the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program"
description: "Remove sunset for the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 86"
citation: "Montana HB 86 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Environmental Protection", "Fish and Wildlife"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kenneth Walsh"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 49
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2022-10-17T20:48:38+00:00"
last_action: "2023-03-16T23:29:42+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/49f845c8-ac70-4009-a99a-a9506b8c5e5c"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC0738"
source_hash: "b59ccb58ffb4a9dbf64de26a2fccece45c6ed45726cb75dda9a5cb3eafb57e5e"
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 86 (2023) — Remove sunset for the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0086.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=2308)
2. **HB0086.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=2309)
3. **HB0086.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=2310)
4. **HB0086.001.003_combo_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=2311)
5. **HB0086_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=2313)
6. **HB0086_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=2314)
7. **HB0086_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=2315)

## Votes

- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **94–3** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate — **94–3** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred — **100–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **100–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Kenneth Walsh — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-03-16T23:29:42+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-03-16T22:06:09+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-14T21:50:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-14T21:10:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-08T21:15:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-03-01T18:59:00+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-03-01T18:41:36+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-02-21T22:53:38+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-02-21T21:40:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-02-21T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-02-17T20:19:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-17T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-10T22:12:04+00:00** (S) Returned to House with Amendments
- **2023-02-09T21:42:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-09T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-02-08T21:25:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-08T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-07T20:18:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Pass Consideration `reading-2`
- **2023-01-26T22:09:18+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-01-26T20:04:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-01-24T21:30:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-01-18T22:55:47+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-01-17T21:30:06+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-01-10T21:30:09+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-01-10T16:22:58+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-10T01:10:01+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-01-09T20:57:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-01-06T20:21:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-01-04T20:13:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-04T16:30:31+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-01-04T16:30:22+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Signed
- **2023-01-04T15:01:46+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-01-03T22:51:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-03T22:00:50+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-01-02T20:54:25+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2022-12-20T19:24:10+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-12-14T16:15:28+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2022-12-14T00:05:22+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Requested
- **2022-12-12T19:47:21+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2022-12-12T19:47:20+00:00** (C) Fiscal Note Probable
- **2022-11-30T19:46:34+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2022-11-29T23:02:08+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2022-11-29T22:43:09+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2022-11-29T22:43:08+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2022-11-29T17:25:18+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2022-11-29T17:12:04+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2022-11-28T22:02:54+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2022-11-23T17:33:17+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-10-17T20:48:38+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/49f845c8-ac70-4009-a99a-a9506b8c5e5c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).