---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revising ballot initiative petition forms for consistency with the constitution"
description: "Revising ballot initiative petition forms for consistency with the constitution"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 56"
citation: "Montana SB 56 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Ballot Issues (see also: Elections)", "Elections (see also: Ballot Issues)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Edith (Edie) McClafferty"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 41
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-08-21T20:05:26+00:00"
last_action: "2023-04-24T18:34:31+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ad2af845-0a63-4805-a88d-aeeff2bd9254"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC0213"
source_hash: "59ff630d5073a919fd9eebfa1c5366f45e80c8127ca98e12ceb929383ec63fbc"
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 56 (2023) — Revising ballot initiative petition forms for consistency with the constitution

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0056_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=1964)
2. **SB0056_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=1965)

## Votes

- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed — **45–5** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Concurred — **89–11** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Concurred — **86–13** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Passed — **27–22** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **10–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Edith (Edie) McClafferty — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-04-24T18:34:31+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-04-24T15:49:00+00:00** (S) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-14T21:45:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-14T16:40:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-07T17:10:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-04T23:23:49+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-04T23:23:48+00:00** (S) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-03-27T18:07:32+00:00** (S) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-03-24T21:52:08+00:00** (H) Returned to Senate
- **2023-03-24T19:56:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-24T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-23T19:22:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-23T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-17T19:14:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-17T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-14T15:00:49+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-21T22:56:50+00:00** (H) Hearing Canceled
- **2023-02-14T20:22:03+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-14T19:44:55+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-19T22:02:45+00:00** (S) Transmitted to House
- **2023-01-18T21:02:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-01-18T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-01-17T20:14:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-01-17T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-01-12T20:21:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-11T18:36:45+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-11T16:50:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-09T22:00:28+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-01-02T20:01:37+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2022-12-29T00:24:48+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-12-13T17:41:33+00:00** (S) Introduced
- **2022-11-08T21:47:21+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2022-11-08T21:46:00+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2022-11-02T20:53:09+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2022-11-02T20:53:08+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2022-10-17T20:39:43+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2022-10-12T21:05:07+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2022-09-30T15:09:05+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2022-09-28T22:46:21+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-09-20T16:24:48+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-08-21T20:05:26+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/ad2af845-0a63-4805-a88d-aeeff2bd9254`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).