---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establish the end of watch trust"
description: "Establish the end of watch trust"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 294"
citation: "Montana SB 294 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Appropriations (see also: State Finance)", "Employment and Labor (same as: Labor and Employment)", "Law Enforcement (see also: Criminal Procedure)", "Local Government (see also: City Subjects; County Subjects)", "Local Government Fiscal Impact", "State Finance (see also: Appropriations; Taxation Subjects)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barry Usher"]
version_count: 13
action_count: 72
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2022-08-16T16:51:31+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-22T21:21:24+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/12252f9a-a95f-4f4d-ab01-c8718ee6fbcf"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC0173"
source_hash: "ae452b449d8178a8d8ea8848ea4f2c0f7948d5d2c3bc540eaff6ed47d864c81a"
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 SB 294 (2023) — Establish the end of watch trust

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0294.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7151)
2. **SB0294.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7148)
3. **SB0294.002.004_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7150)
4. **SB0294.002.004_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7149)
5. **SB0294.002.005_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7145)
6. **SB0294.002.006_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7146)
7. **SB0294.002.006_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7147)
8. **SB0294001SCS17704.slc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7098)
9. **SB0294002SCS17704.slc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7097)
10. **SB0294_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7072)
11. **SB0294_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7074)
12. **SB0294_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7073)
13. **SB0294_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=7071)

## Votes

- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Concurred — **94–5** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments Concurred — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **16–3** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by House — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed — **47–3** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Concurred — **96–4** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **18–1** (pass) · upper
- (S) 2nd Reading Passed — **50–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Barry Usher — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-22T21:21:24+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-19T18:41:00+00:00** (S) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-11T22:00:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-11T20:30:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-10T17:30:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-05-05T21:26:34+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-05-05T20:57:17+00:00** (S) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-05-02T22:18:39+00:00** (S) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-05-02T21:27:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by House `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-05-02T17:57:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-05-02T17:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-28T23:37:50+00:00** (H) Returned to Senate with Amendments
- **2023-04-28T19:58:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-28T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-28T17:42:45+00:00** (S) Revised Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-04-27T14:45:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-27T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-24T15:49:38+00:00** (S) Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-04-21T20:09:17+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-04-21T19:19:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-04-21T16:30:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-04-06T21:00:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-04-05T21:26:00+00:00** (H) Rereferred to Committee `referral-committee, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-05T21:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-05T13:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-23T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-03-15T14:47:02+00:00** (S) Revised Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-03-14T19:34:21+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-14T01:10:03+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-10T00:07:36+00:00** (S) Revised Fiscal Note Signed
- **2023-03-09T20:55:47+00:00** (S) Revised Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-03-03T18:23:59+00:00** (S) Transmitted to House
- **2023-03-03T04:31:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-03T01:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-01T22:51:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-01T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-01T15:30:52+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-02-28T22:38:00+00:00** (S) Rereferred to Committee `referral-committee, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-28T21:46:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-27T20:49:05+00:00** (S) Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-02-27T19:54:33+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-24T20:30:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-24T18:28:09+00:00** (S) Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-02-24T15:15:54+00:00** (C) Fiscal Note Unsigned
- **2023-02-24T15:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-24T00:36:29+00:00** (S) Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-02-23T22:33:33+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-02-14T16:00:08+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-02-08T23:38:38+00:00** (S) Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-02-08T20:26:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-08T17:05:11+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-07T23:12:29+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-07T23:03:35+00:00** (S) Introduced
- **2023-02-07T23:03:34+00:00** (C) Fiscal Note Probable
- **2023-02-07T15:16:22+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-02-06T14:55:03+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-06T14:37:12+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-02-06T14:37:07+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-06T12:35:54+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-02-05T23:03:06+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-02-05T22:19:16+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-05T22:19:15+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-02-05T21:42:47+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-02-05T21:28:47+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-02-05T04:45:59+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-02-03T23:30:59+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-02-03T21:53:29+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-02-02T16:28:26+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-02-02T01:28:12+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-02-01T17:07:42+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-01-27T05:40:26+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-08-16T16:51:31+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/12252f9a-a95f-4f4d-ab01-c8718ee6fbcf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).