Legislators quickly began clearing out of the Capitol in Helena following the conclusion of the Legislative session on Tuesday. But before getting to that last day, lawmakers had many battles to fight and many bills to pass.

During the 90 days in session, lawmakers passed over 300 bills, some of which got a lot of attention from the public. One such bill was House Bill 190, otherwise known as the "stream access bill".

"This bill is incredibly simple. It essentially does a couple of things" explained Rep. Kendall Van Dyk (D-Billings). "It tells sports men and women you have access public waterways from bridges. It tells landowners and farmers and ranchers you can in fact build your fence next to that bridge."

It was similar to legislation that died in the last session, but Van Dyk says the last bill's issues were resolved in HB 190. The Governor endorsed the bill early on and it's already been signed into law.

"One of the most important things that was accomplished is that for the first time since 1985, the legislature clearly defined the opportunities and responsibilities of sportsmen and women and landowners when it comes to bridge access" commented Schweitzer.

A bill to authorize investor owned livestock slaughter and processing plants also brought swarms of people to the Capitol to voice concern or support. It made it's way to the Governor who vetoed a portion of the bill, but his changes were rejected by both houses.

"The sections the Governor wants to strike out really don't enter into the issue until these plants have been approved" said Rep. Ed Butcher (R-Winifred). "So we're just trying to get to a situation where no one is being denied the right to go to court. Everyone can go."

That bill was returned to the Governor and is still awaiting his action.

A couple of other bills aimed to add regulatory guidelines for storing carbon dioxide under ground, but in the end, just one bill made it through the process. Senate Bill 498 was amended to give carbon sequestration authority to the state land board.

"It is in the best interest of the state to have this bill passed because when the time does come that the Federal Government does come with their rules and regulations, that the state can step up and say yes we are ready to do this" explained  Sen. Keith Bales (R-Otter).

That bill passed through the legislature and will be transmitted to the Governor.

Some other big issues of the session included a bill to ban reproductive human cloning which became law, and a bill to abolish the death penalty, which failed. Lawmakers also passed one of multiple castle doctrines permitting the right to self defense without first retreating.

The Governor still has some of the other major bills to sign like the budget, the stimulus spending plan, and the property tax reappraisal bill.