Sen. Laura Smith

Second-session Democrat from Helena

Representing Senate District 40

West Helena and western Helena Valley

406-426-3504 • Laura.Smith@legmt.gov

Committees •Bills •Key votes •Voting stats •2024 election margin •

Laura Smith previously served in the Montana House in 2023.

Committee assignments

Senate Judiciary

Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety - Vice-chair

Senate Fish and Game

Senate Ethics

Senate Rules

Bills sponsored

📋 SB 84: Generally revise laws related to presentence investigations Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text	✅1st Cmte. ✴️Senate ⚪️House ⚪️Gov.
📋 SB 89: Establish the sexual and violent offender presentence investigation and reporting unit Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text 💵 Fiscal note	✅1st Cmte. ✴️Senate ⚪️House ⚪️Gov.
📋 SB 202: Revise laws regarding receipt of workers' compensation benefits on behalf of others Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text	✴️1st Cmte. ⚪️Senate ⚪️House ⚪️Gov.
📋 SB 208: Revise definition of "dependent child" in highway patrol, police, and firefighter retirement systems Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text 💵 Fiscal note	✴️1st Cmte. ⚪️Senate ⚪️House ⚪️Gov.
📋 SB 257: Generally revise Smith River permit laws Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text	✴️1st Cmte. ⚪️Senate ⚪️House ⚪️Gov.
📋 SB 258: Revise school funding laws to clarify the legislature's authority related to inflationary adjustments Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text	✴️1st Cmte. ⚪️Senate ⚪️House ⚪️Gov.

Showing 6 of 6

Expert reporting and insight from the Montana Capitol, emailed Thursdays.

Floor vote statistics

Calculations based on 152 Senate floor votes in 2025 involving bills.

🥇 71%

of votes cast on winning side

Average for Senate Democrats is 72%.

🔴 61%

of votes cast on side taken by most Republicans

Average for Senate Democrats is 62%.

🔵 98%

of votes cast on side taken by most Democrats

Average for Senate Democrats is 97%.

Smith has been marked absent or excused for 0 votes. Average for Senate lawmakers is 0.8.

SD 40 election results

Last in-cycle for Senate election in 2024. House seats are elected every two years, Senate seats every four.

General election vote, 2024

Won by 7% (920 votes)

Party primary vote, 2024

Ran unopposed

Governor vote in district, 2024

Won by 3% (398 votes)

Montana Free Press coverage

Nothing currently tagged in our archive.

About the 2025 Montana Free Press Capitol Tracker

This guide is an effort to make the quantifiable aspects of the Montana Legislature more accessible to the public by compiling information about lawmakers, proposed bills and the legislative process. This is a project of Montana Free Press, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit newsroom that aims to provide Montanans with in-depth, nonpartisan news coverage.

The information presented here is collected from a variety of sources including the Montana Legislature's public roster and its official bill-tracking system. Reporting and web design were done by Jacob Olness and Eric Dietrich. Please contact them at jolness@montanafreepress.org and edietrich@montanafreepress.org with bug reports, questions or suggestions.

Think there's a potential news story to be done about a bill or lawmaker you see here? Tell us at tips@montanafreepress.org.

2025 Capitol Tracker

The lawmakers, bills and votes of the 69th Montana Legislature