The bill to authorize investor owned livestock slaughter and processing plants in the state made its way back to the Montana Legislature on Thursday.

Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer sent the bill back to lawmakers earlier this month after striking the legal protections it would have offered to slaughterhouses.

The House has already rejected the changes the Governor made to House Bill 418, and today the Senate did the same by a vote of 44 to 5.

MT State Senator Ryan Zinke (R-Whitefish) carried the bill on the Senate floor, asking his peers not to concur with the Gubernatorial amendments: "Some of (Schweitzer's) arguments, the other arguments - he makes a good point, but overall the amendment, I believe, still addresses the same issue and it is an issue for Montana to decide."

The bill will now go back to Governor Schweitzer in its original form.

Sarah Elliot, communications director for Schweitzer, released a statement that read, in part, that the Governor "supports a horse slaughter facility being built in Montana, but is still concerned for the public's health and safety as a result of provisions in the bill...the Administration will consider its options and make a determination in the allotted time."

The Governor has 10 days to either sign or veto the bill; if he does neither, the bill automatically becomes law.