Constitutional carry (2021). No AWB, no mag limit, strong preemption. Stand-your-ground codified. Suppressors legal. No waiting period. 2025 statute penalizes officials enforcing red-flag orders.

Recreational cannabis legal 2020 (I-190). Resentencing/expungement available by petition. Naloxone access. Republican legislature has added restrictions. No psychedelic reform.

State minimum wage $10.85/hr. MIT living wage for 1 adult: $16.06/hr. Ratio 0.68 — minimum-wage workers earn 68% of what's needed to live there alone.

Low-moderate tax burden, NAEP scores at or above national average, decent life expectancy. Modest spending with modest-to-good outcomes — slight efficiency edge.

IJ grades MT B+ (HB 463, 2015 - conviction required, strong protections, equitable-sharing limits). No QI reform. Strong state constitutional privacy clause (Art. II, sec. 10). MT Consumer Data Privacy Act (2024). HB 800 (2017) limited geofence/cell-tower warrants. No body cam mandate. Limited no-knock use rural.

No-excuse absentee voting. Early voting via in-person absentee. Same-day registration restored after 2024 court ruling (HB 176 struck down). Non-strict ID. Felons vote after release. Republican-drawn maps with moderate bias. Multiple restrictive laws (HB 530, SB 169) struck down by MT Supreme Court. Mixed but improving picture.

Medicaid expansion adopted 2016 (HELP Act). Abortion protected by state constitution (Armstrong precedent); 2024 ballot enshrined. Trans youth ban blocked by court May 2025. Severe rural healthcare access challenges. Indigenous health disparities significant.

Limited qualified immunity reform - 2021 law modified some immunity provisions but not full elimination (often miscounted in lists). No statewide BWC mandate. Disciplinary records limited disclosure. MT POST decertification. No no-knock ban. No necessity standard. Local DAs prosecute. Chokeholds not statewide-banned. Per-capita killings well above median.

Abortion right protected by state constitution (Armstrong precedent reaffirmed by 2024 ballot CI-128). Gender-affirming care ban for minors permanently enjoined (2025). LGBTQ+ status under recent constitutional protection challenges. No statewide nondiscrimination law. Active anti-trans legislation but courts have blocked. Mixed picture trending negative legislatively.

Not a right-to-work state. No paid family leave. No statewide paid sick leave. Federal OSHA only. Prevailing wage. Moderate wage theft enforcement. Above-median fatal injury rate (extraction). Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act provides unique just-cause protection.