Montana Title 2. Government Structure and Administration § 2-4-310. Sponsor contact for administrative rulemaking--sponsor comments--request for economic impact statement

(1) When an agency begins to work on the substantive content of a proposal notice for a rule that initially implements legislation, and not less than 10 days in advance of a proposal notice, the agency shall contact the legislator who was the primary sponsor of the legislation.  The primary sponsor must be contacted at the sponsor's legislative e-mail address.  An agency has complied with the primary sponsor contact requirements of this section upon sending the e-mail meeting the requirements of this subsection.  If an agency fails to comply with the requirements of this subsection, then the proposal notice is ineffective.  The agency shall:

(2) If the primary sponsor submits comments pursuant to subsection (1)(b) for an agency proposal and the agency disagrees with the primary sponsor, the agency shall publish the primary sponsor's unredacted comments in the proposal notice and provide a statement explaining why the sponsor's comments were not incorporated into the proposed rule.

(3) The sponsor may request an economic impact statement be prepared pursuant to 2-4-405.  The request must set forth the requirements of 2-4-405(2)(a) and an explanation of whether and how the economic burden of the proposed rulemaking can be mitigated while implementing the sponsor's legislation.  The request must be directed to the appropriate administrative rule review committee, and the provisions of 2-4-405 apply.

(4) The sponsor is an interested person as set forth in 2-4-302 for purposes of rulemaking that initially implements legislation.