In late June, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana held that federal law preempts the Montana Attorney General (AG) from removing the cigarette brands of Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, Ltd. (Grand River)...more
Montana Medicaid provides health care coverage to nearly 300,000 Montanans, including low-income children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and adults. We produce the Medicaid in Montana annual report to help...more
On February 26, 2024, Montana received Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approval to provide contingency management, tenancy supports, and Reentry Initiative services under its Section 1115 Healing and Ending...more
CALIFORNIA - On March 29, 2024, the amended California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulations will take effect. These regulations were originally slated to take effect in 2023, but a court ruling (that is being appealed)...more
On December 22, 2023, the Attorney General of Montana released an opinion (the “Opinion”) concluding that certain earned wage access (EWA) products are not “consumer loans” or “deferred deposit loans” under Montana law and do...more
Montana’s legislature last year passed legislation, signed by the Governor, to ban the use of TikTok within the borders of the state, seeking to protect Montana consumers’ personal information and limit spying by the Chinese...more
As we touched on last week, on August 14, the Montana First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, entered its Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law in Held v. State of Montana, et al. striking down certain...more
Last week, in Held v. State of Montana, the First Judicial District Court of Lewis and Clark County issued a groundbreaking decision in favor of sixteen youth plaintiffs who challenged a Montana environmental review law that...more
Earlier this week, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s disapproval of Montana’s regional haze plan for the PacifiCorp’s Wyodak power plant. The basis for the disapproval was an issue near and dear to my heart. ...more
On August 14, 2023, Judge Kathy Seeley issued a decision in the Held case that impacts state fossil fuel permit holders and current and future permit applications. Judge Seeley found unconstitutional a Montana statute that...more
On August 14, 2023, in a “landmark” ruling, a Montana state court held that youth plaintiffs had standing to assert constitutional claims against the State of Montana, its governor and state agencies for “ignoring” the impact...more
On August 14, 2023, a Montana state court found that a Montana environmental review statute (the Montana Environmental Policy Act or MEPA) that limited (and as amended in May 2023, precluded) consideration of greenhouse gas...more
Yesterday, the plaintiffs prevailed in the Montana climate litigation. Time will tell whether the decision will end up being seen as a watershed moment or just a blip. In trying to answer that question, it does seem worth...more
This year has proven to be active in terms of state privacy legislation. In addition to Montana’s Consumer Data Privacy Act, the state has now passed a Genetic Information Privacy Act. Montana defines “genetic data” as any...more
On June 7, 2023, Montana’s Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 351 which revises the state’s privacy law pertaining to genetic information. This legislation takes effect on October 1, 2023. Covered Entity- Businesses...more
15 Republican AGs wrote a letter to ten mutual fund directors who helm funds for which BlackRock, Inc. serves as an investment adviser, requesting information regarding potential conflicts of interest and ESG investments....more
On May 19, 2023, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed into law Senate Bill 384 ("Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act"), Montana's new state consumer privacy law, which will become effective October 1, 2024. Montana now joins...more
This year has so far proven to be quite active in terms of state privacy legislation. In 2022, California, Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut were the five states with consumer privacy laws on the books, all set to...more
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has signed SB 351, the Genetic Information Privacy Act (GINA), which “requires an entity to provide consumer information regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of genetic data; providing...more
Montana Senate Bill 248 went into effect on June 1, 2023. This law allows student-athletes to earn compensation from Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) endorsement deals and is part of a trend of NIL legislation being passed by...more
On May 19, 2023, Montana’s Governor signed Senate Bill 384, the Consumer Data Privacy Act. Montana joins California, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia in enacting a comprehensive consumer...more
On May 19, the Montana governor signed SB 384 to enact the Consumer Data Privacy Act (CDPA) and establish a framework for controlling and processing consumer personal data in the state. Montana is now the ninth state in the...more
On May 4, 2023, Montana changed its product liability laws when the Governor signed SB 216, which was effective upon passage and applies to claims that accrue on or after May 4, 2023. Among the changes is the adoption of a...more
The Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act, which would take effect October 1, 2024, and the Tennessee Information Protection Act, which would take effect July 1, 2025, continue the wave of privacy laws passed by state...more
On April 21, the Montana legislature unanimously passed the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act (MCDPA) (SB 384), joining several states with general consumer data privacy bills. The MCDPA most closely aligns with the...more