---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise video gambling machine taxes to allow a deduction for negative income"
description: "Revise video gambling machine taxes to allow a deduction for negative income"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 297"
citation: "Montana HB 297 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Gambling", "Revenue", "State", "Taxation (Generally)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Tom Welch"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 64
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2022-11-13T18:25:35+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-19T20:07:08+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/05bab1fc-4559-46d2-a652-da6937bc6bdd"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC1106"
source_hash: "27c7008da968ba3f350c12ed79c88c174924b06485928cfc329750ff9b1296a3"
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 297 (2023) — Revise video gambling machine taxes to allow a deduction for negative income

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0297.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6458)
2. **HB0297.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6460)
3. **HB0297.002.003_combo_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6457)
4. **HB0297.002.003_combo_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6459)
5. **HB0297_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6463)
6. **HB0297_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6464)
7. **HB0297_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6465)
8. **HB0297_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6466)

## Votes

- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **88–5** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **91–8** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **32–18** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **13–6** (pass) · upper
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **16–7** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **40–10** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **97–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Tom Welch — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-19T20:07:08+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-18T22:30:31+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-08T16:20:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-04T18:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-29T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-23T18:57:02+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-23T18:57:01+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-20T15:16:18+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-20T02:27:00+00:00** (S) Returned to House
- **2023-04-18T21:44:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-18T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-14T20:08:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-13T14:00:01+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-13T14:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-24T20:57:00+00:00** (S) Rereferred to Committee `referral-committee, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-24T19:58:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-24T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-22T19:26:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-21T14:30:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-16T16:30:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-13T22:01:19+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-13T19:12:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-13T15:41:35+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-03-11T15:42:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-11T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-10T20:31:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-10T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-23T22:30:56+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-23T20:24:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-22T22:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-14T22:00:08+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-10T22:21:00+00:00** (H) Rereferred to Committee `referral-committee, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-10T20:58:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-08T00:03:37+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-02-06T23:36:41+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Signed
- **2023-02-06T23:28:36+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-02-03T18:24:48+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-02-02T22:40:19+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-02T20:09:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-02T19:23:39+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-31T23:58:53+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-01-31T15:30:56+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-01-30T22:00:13+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-01-30T18:42:52+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Signed
- **2023-01-30T14:24:25+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-01-24T20:08:51+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-01-24T18:37:59+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-23T17:30:50+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-21T15:22:00+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-01-21T15:17:59+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-01-17T18:24:56+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-01-11T00:39:48+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-10T20:12:24+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-01-10T20:12:17+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-10T19:52:45+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-01-10T19:40:46+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-01-10T17:03:19+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-10T17:03:18+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-01-10T00:44:58+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-01-09T22:14:55+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-01-09T15:00:25+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-01-08T17:18:59+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-01-06T00:36:45+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-11-13T18:25:35+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/05bab1fc-4559-46d2-a652-da6937bc6bdd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).