Montana Governor Vetoes Tribal Cannabis Agreements HB 952

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A bill known as House Bill 952 (HB 952) was recently vetoed by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte (1,2). The piece of legislation was going to allow tribal nations and the governor’s office “to establish compacts to legalize and regulate cannabis on individual reservations,” (1).

Governor Gianforte wrote a letter to Speaker of the House, Brandon Ler, and Senate President, Matt Regier, regarding his decision to veto (1,3). In the letter (3), Governor Gianforte says, “House Bill 952 aims to ensure tribal-state collaboration on the regulation of marijuana within tribal communities, but the bill is unnecessary and duplicative. While I appreciate the intentions of the bill sponsor, that authority already exists under the State-Tribal Cooperative Agreements Act, the State has entered into over 400 agreements with Montana’s eight tribal nations addressing a broad scope of matters, including the regulation and taxation of marijuana.”

Ganjapreneur reported that Jeffry Stiffarm, president of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, wrote a letter to the Montana Governor, expressing the need to veto HB 952 (1,3). Stiffarm said that the bill undermines “sovereign rights” of the tribe through (1,3) “conditioning the exercise of tribal regulatory on state approval, mandating state control over cannabis licensing and revenue sharing, and imposing frameworks that treat tribes as subordinate entities rather than equal sovereign governments.”

Additionally, Stiffarm expressed in the letter (1,3), “We believe tribal-state compacts regarding cannabis, gaming, taxation, and other issues must be negotiated on a government-to-government basis, with voluntary participation and respect for tribal sovereignty at the forefront.”

“I also have serious concerns about the bill’s potential impact on tribal sovereignty and self-determination, as well as the government-to-government relationship between the State of Montana and tribal nations,” Governor Gianforte mentioned in his letter (1,3). “By Channeling negotiations through a new statutory process, House Bill 952 may constrain the scope and flexibility of negotiations, introduce unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, and impose State priorities to engage in open, meaningful, and equal negotiations as sovereigns, potentially weakening cooperation and collaboration.”

Governor Gianforte referred in his letter that aside from Stiffarm’s disapproval of the bill, several tribes also shared these issues (3) and likely added some insight to Governor Gianforte’s decision to veto.

References

1. Abbott, G. Montana gov. vetoes bill on Tribal Cannabis Agreements https://ganjapreneur.com/montana-gov-vetoes-bill-on-tribal-cannabis-agreements/ (accessed Jun 30, 2025).
2. Abbott, G. Montana passes Bill to allow tribal cannabis agreements https://ganjapreneur.com/montana-passes-bill-to-allow-tribal-cannabis-agreements/ (accessed Jun 30, 2025).
3. Gianforte, G. https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=94ffd83f-db1f-42c0-9646-4722b5a61214 (accessed Jun 30, 2025).