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 •MTFP Coverage

Smith previously served in the Montana House in 2023.

Montana Free Press coverage

📰 2025 Legislature

Bills targeting Montana’s child care challenges maintaining steam

Apr 15, 2025 • Alex Sakariassen

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 💵 Fiscal note	✅1st Cmte. ✅Senate ❌House ⚪️Reconcil. ⚪️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 💵 Fiscal note	❌1st Cmte. ⚪️Senate ⚪️House ⚪️Reconcil. ⚪️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 💵 Fiscal note	✅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 🏛 Legal note 📰 1 MTFP story	✅1st Cmte. ✅Senate ✅House ❌Gov.
📋 SB 412: Provide for fee waivers of government documents to former foster children Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text 💵 Fiscal note	✅1st Cmte. ✅Senate ✅House ✅Gov.
📋 SB 413: Criminalize disclosure of certain explicit AI-generated media Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text 💵 Fiscal note	✅1st Cmte. ✅Senate ✅House ✅Gov.
📋 SB 500: Establish the Montana family legacy home act Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text	✅1st Cmte. ✅Senate ❌House ⚪️Reconcil. ⚪️Gov.
📋 SB 501: Establishing the Keep Montanans Housed Act Laura Smith (D)📃 Bill text	❌1st Cmte. ⚪️Senate ⚪️House ⚪️Reconcil. ⚪️Gov.

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Floor vote statistics

Calculations based on 2,696 Senate floor votes in 2025 involving bills.

🥇 77%

of votes cast on winning side

Average for Senate Democrats is 78%.

🔴 62%

of votes cast on side taken by most Republicans

Average for Senate Democrats is 63%.

🔵 95%

of votes cast on side taken by most Democrats

Average for Senate Democrats is 94%.

Smith has been marked absent or excused for 32 votes. Average for Senate lawmakers is 27.5.

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)

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.

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2025 Capitol Tracker

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