Montana legislation · 2025 Regular Session
Montana HJ24: Joint house resolution supporting Utah in their land lawsuit against the United States
Status: Failed, May 20, 2025
What the bill says
A joint resolution of the senate and the house of representatives of the state of montana supporting the state of utah in seeking a judgment declaring that the federal policy embodied in 43 u.s.c. 1701(a)(1), of perpetual federal retention of unappropriated public lands in utah is unconstitutional.
From the engrossed text:
A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA SUPPORTING THE STATE OF UTAH IN SEEKING A JUDGMENT DECLARING THAT THE FEDERAL POLICY EMBODIED IN 43 U.S.C. 1701(A)(1), OF PERPETUAL FEDERAL RETENTION OF UNAPPROPRIATED PUBLIC LANDS IN UTAH IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. WHEREAS, the State of Utah claims that the United States currently owns about 69% of the land in the State of Utah--roughly 37.4 million of Utah's 54.3 million acres. Nearly half of that federal land--roughly 18.5 million acres--is unappropriated land that the United States is simply holding, without formally reserving it for any designated purpose or using it to execute any of its enumerated powers. Those 18.5 million acres are administered by the federal Bureau of Land Management, which earns significant revenue by leasing those lands to private parties for activities such as oil and gas production, grazing, and commercial filmmaking and by selling timber and other valuable natural resources from land that the federal government retains for its own exploitation; and WHEREAS, the State of Utah claims that, as a direct consequence of the United States' indefinite retention of unappropriated public lands within Utah's borders, Utah is deprived of basic and fundamental sovereign powers over more than one-third of its territory. Utah cannot tax the federal government's land holdings. Utah cannot exercise …
Sponsors
- Millett, Tom (R, 2) · primary sponsor
Latest actions
- : (H) Died in Process
- : (H) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal
- : (H) 2nd Reading
- : (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- : (H) Committee Report
- : (H) Committee Executive Action
- : (H) Hearing
- : (H) 1st Reading
- : (H) Referred to Committee
- : (H) Introduced
Votes
- Do Pass (April 1, 2025): 33 yea, 66 nay, failed
Subjects: Courts, Federal Government
Common questions
- What is HJ24?
- HJ24 is a bill in the Montana Legislature (2025 Regular Session): Joint house resolution supporting Utah in their land lawsuit against the United States.
- What does HJ24 do?
- In its own words: A joint resolution of the senate and the house of representatives of the state of montana supporting the state of utah in seeking a judgment declaring that the federal policy embodied in 43 u.s.c. 1701(a)(1), of perpetual federal retention of unappropriated public lands in utah is unconstitutional.
- What is the status of HJ24?
- Failed as of May 20, 2025. Latest action: (H) Died in Process (May 20, 2025).
- Who sponsored HJ24?
- Millett, Tom (R, 2).
- Where is the official record for HJ24?
- On the Montana Legislature website: https://bills.legmt.gov/#/laws/bill/2/LC2912
Source: official Montana record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.