---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise insurance laws relating to the duty to defend"
description: "Revise insurance laws relating to the duty to defend"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 492"
citation: "Montana SB 492 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Insurance"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Steve Fitzpatrick"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 43
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-12-03T23:46:45+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-04T18:25:58+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/538468b5-cde6-4de3-8f28-1afbe2134e35"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC2659"
source_hash: "8437873d97b174c5862bfc73b11233c3533e41764ae7648e1b7c121815f78809"
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 492 (2023) — Revise insurance laws relating to the duty to defend

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0492_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=19642)
2. **SB0492_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=19641)

## Votes

- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **18–1** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Concurred — **98–1** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Passed — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Concurred — **97–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Steve Fitzpatrick — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-04T18:25:58+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-03T15:32:00+00:00** (S) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-26T16:20:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-23T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-20T22:30:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-18T17:07:36+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-18T17:07:35+00:00** (S) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-14T20:28:17+00:00** (S) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-14T19:39:07+00:00** (H) Returned to Senate
- **2023-04-13T22:36:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-13T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-12T21:07:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-12T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-06T19:20:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-06T19:18:51+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-04-05T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-03-15T21:46:16+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-15T21:21:03+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-03T18:25:37+00:00** (S) Transmitted to House
- **2023-03-03T05:20:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-03T01:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-02T21:44:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-02T17:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-01T23:07:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-01T15:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-28T15:00:02+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-02-24T21:18:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-24T17:22:45+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-23T20:25:15+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-23T20:20:55+00:00** (S) Introduced
- **2023-02-23T19:07:43+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-01-11T20:36:55+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-11T15:34:33+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-01-11T15:34:22+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-10T22:18:38+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-01-10T20:17:19+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-01-10T18:09:14+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-10T18:09:13+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-01-10T01:08:20+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-01-08T01:53:18+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-01-07T19:03:17+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-01-04T03:38:07+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-12-03T23:46:45+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/538468b5-cde6-4de3-8f28-1afbe2134e35`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).