Senate Bill No. introduced by M. Regier aims to extend legislative immunity to legislative staff, ensuring that they are protected from being questioned or compelled to testify regarding privileged legislative information. This bill amends Sections 2-9-101 and 2-9-901 of the Montana Code Annotated (MCA) to include new definitions and provisions that recognize the confidentiality of information held by legislative staff, similar to that of legislators. Specifically, it establishes that legislative staff may not disclose privileged information and that the introduction of a bill by a legislator does not waive this privilege.

The bill also clarifies the definition of "legislative staff" to include employees or contractors of the legislative branch, personal staff of legislative leadership, and attorneys or consultants hired by legislative leadership. It explicitly states that the privilege applies to information controlled by legislative staff as long as it would be considered privileged if held by a legislator. Additionally, the bill provides an immediate effective date upon passage and approval, indicating the urgency of implementing these protections for legislative staff.

Statutes affected:
LC Text: 2-9-101, 2-9-901
SB0352_1(1): 2-9-101, 2-9-901
SB0352_1(2): 2-9-101, 2-9-901
SB0352_1: 2-9-101, 2-9-901