On Thursday, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) held a press briefing to provide updates on "Montanans' To-Do List."
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning. I know you've all had a very busy week as you track the final days
00:07of the legislative session. This work that happens in Helena has real impact on our
00:13communities across the state. Yesterday I heard the first hand while I was in Butte
00:18to highlight the impact of one of our high priority items, our pro-housing reforms that
00:25we passed last session. Increasing the supply of housing has been a top priority for our
00:31administration and for the legislature because owning a home is a key part of the American
00:38dream. But for more than a decade, it's become harder and harder for Montanans to own or rent
00:45a home. Burdensome regulations and population growth have left Montana with a shortage of
00:52affordable, attainable housing. We knew we had to face this problem head on. That's why
00:59in 2022 I launched our Housing Task Force. They developed a list of 12 recommendations the
01:06legislature could consider to make housing more affordable and more attainable. And last
01:13session they did just that. In working with the legislature, we've made real progress.
01:18In 2023, I signed into law House Bill 819, which provided the Board of Investments with $106 million
01:27to implement our Home Ownership Means Economic Security or Homes Act. The Homes Program created
01:37a low interest revolving loan account to help pay for some of the infrastructure costs that come
01:45with building new homes, extending water lines to new subdivisions or building roads, upgrading
01:51water and sewer systems. The Board of Investments tells me that the Homes Program, which we implemented
02:00just two years ago, has led to the construction of nearly 1,000 new homes across Montana. The best
02:08part, the Homes Program is not a handout. The money the state invests gets paid back to the Homes Program
02:17so that we can reinvest it in more homes. Yesterday I visited with Barbara Miller, the director of
02:25Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Montana, to hear about her involvement in the project in Butte. The project is a
02:33collaborative effort between Habitat for Humanity and the National Affordable Housing Network, made
02:40possible thanks to the support from local building suppliers, contractors and volunteers, and of course,
02:47our Homes Program. According to Barbara, through the work of Habitat for Humanity, they have had more
02:54than 130 families in Butte help them build their own homes. It's essential that we come alongside community
03:03efforts, nonprofits and housing developers to give them the flexibility and stability they need to make
03:10these investments. Barbara said the Homes Program does just that. That's why in my budget I proposed
03:18allocating an additional $100 million to this program to build even more houses across Montana. I'd like to
03:26thank Representative Mike Vinton for carrying our proposal in House Bill 505 and the House of Representatives
03:34for their overwhelmingly bipartisan support for this bill. House Bill 505 was heard in Senate financing
03:43claims this week, and I urged the Senate to take action on this important proposal to continue to
03:49work to expand the supply of affordable, attainable housing in Montana. Now, as our agenda continues to
03:59make its way through the legislature, I thought I'd take a moment today to highlight where we stand. In
04:05November, Montanans sent us here with a very clear mission. They gave us a to-do list.
04:17And here we go. They said they wanted us to work together to, first, reduce property taxes. Secondly, limit
04:27spending. Third, cut income taxes. Fourth, reform the judiciary. And finally, increase starting teacher
04:38pay. As we get down to the wire, the legislature is working hard to make progress on the to-do list that
04:47the people of Montana have given us. I understand they're getting close on our proposal to increase
04:54starting teacher pay. That would be one item on here. I was hoping we could check that off today,
05:03but I'm grateful that we're making progress. But the top priority on the list must remain
05:09property taxes. Montanans spoke loud and clear in the last election, property taxes are too high.
05:17Most people in this building, myself included, agree. Montanans deserve permanent, meaningful relief
05:28and property tax reform. I was glad to see my priority property tax bill make progress in Senate Taxation
05:36Committee yesterday. As I have the entire legislative session, I continue to urge the legislature to keep
05:45its focus on Montanans who live in their primary residence, the place that they call home and not on
05:54those who only live here part part of the year. Our homestead rate cut was a thoughtfully developed
06:01solution and a result of a diverse bipartisan effort. It cuts property taxes for primary homeowners,
06:10small businesses and provides indirect relief for renters. I still think the homestead rate cut is the best
06:19proposal in front of the legislature. I am optimistic that they understand that addressing property taxes is at
06:27the is at the top of our combined to do list. But as I said a few weeks ago, we can't leave here without meaningful,
06:38permanent property tax reform. It's time to get it done. And we should. Montanans also expect us
06:48to enact a responsible budget, one that limits government spending and balances the budget. Our budget that we
06:57proposed, the path to security and prosperity, does that. It kept spending growth under the rate of inflation
07:06without growing the size of government. But as our budget has made it through the legislative process,
07:13it's grown. While I respect the role of the legislature, I reiterate, we must pass a responsible
07:21budget in line with Montanans priorities. And we cannot grow government at a rate faster than inflation.
07:29And we must complete more of the items on this list, like cutting income taxes. In November,
07:39I proposed the largest income tax cut in state history, building on past income tax cuts which have
07:47led to record job creation, record low unemployment and record wage growth that outpaces inflation. I still
07:55believe our income tax cut is the most conservative proposal before the legislature. Reducing the tax
08:04that most Montanans pay, benefiting Montanans at every single income level. While I know there's
08:12a lot of different ideas out there, we must keep this principle at the top of our minds.
08:20The money belongs to the people of Montana and not the government. We should send it back to them in
08:26the form of permanent tax relief. Montanans said they wanted judicial reform. I do too. Last year's
08:36Montana Supreme Court elections saw an influx of unprecedented dark money from the extreme left,
08:45proving we already have a partisan Supreme Court races here in the state. I believe Montanans have a
08:52right to know the values and principles of the Supreme Court justices they elect. There is still time
08:59to get this done. And we must. Montanans also want their children to get the best education possible. And
09:07they know in order for our students to reach their full outstanding potential, we must be able to recruit
09:15the highest quality teachers. By raising teacher pay and investing in our schools,
09:21we're building brighter futures for our teachers and our students. That's why I'm grateful the STARS Act
09:28passed the Senate on second reading by a wide bipartisan margin. By raising starting teacher pay,
09:35we can ensure that students across our state, especially in our rural areas, benefit from a quality
09:42education. As I wrap things up today, I'd like to thank the legislature for their work.
09:48They are putting in long hours and considering many complex issues. But we're getting down to the wire.
09:57And a lot remains on Montana's to-do list. And I'm ready. I've got my little pen. I'm ready to check them off.
10:08Let's finish strong. Building on the firm foundation from the last four years and creating a Montana
10:17where every man, woman, and child can reach and achieve the American dream. With that, I'm happy to
10:24open up for questions. Just please state your name and news outlet when you do. Yes.
10:29Governor, I agree with the David Montana. You say there's still time for a judicial report,
10:34specifically mentioning partisan elections. How do you see that coming about with only two weeks left?
10:39We have two weeks left. And I was very clear on my state of the state. I think many in the legislature
10:46agree. We want to have a judiciary that stands on the rule of law and does not promote their own
10:55political views from the bench. And I think Montanans should be able to vote based on the
11:01affiliation of these judges. We have nonpartisan races in Montana in name only. We should call a
11:08spade a spade and attribute them to the party from which they come.
11:15Is there anything working its way through? Are you working with any legislators to try to get a last
11:19Senate bill through? These are the items that Montanans gave us to achieve.
11:26Nothing's going to take it off the to-do list. It's still there.
11:28Yes.
11:30I'm going to look at the newspapers. You talked about, you know, how the budget's kind of coming
11:34in above where you had initially asked for. If that is kind of cruising through the Senate right now,
11:40if that comes to you in its current form, are you looking at more line-end vetoes? Are you looking at
11:46cat and dog bills, so to speak, in terms of where you might see some cuts?
11:50Yeah, I think Montanans have given us very clear marching orders, which is they want a responsible
11:54government. We're required by our Constitution, of course, for it to be balanced, but we have to
12:00make sure we don't grow the size of government faster than the rate of inflation. So we'll see
12:06what form the budget gets to us, but we're going to use the tools we have to make sure
12:11that we have responsible spending. Yeah?
12:16In a very future point, I have to address the action on Senate tax in the Expo yesterday,
12:20one of the things that was done there, as I understand it, was adding a rebate provision,
12:25which looked to be an understanding that it's not possible at this point to implement
12:29a home state provision this year. First, is that correct? And second, how are you feeling about
12:34a rebate provision that looks like tapping into tax dollars?
12:37Yeah, so the question's about the rebate that got added to 231 in Senate yesterday,
12:45and our marching orders from the people of Montana are very clear. We need meaningful,
12:49permanent property tax relief. Now, if there was a rebate in a bill that provided a bridge,
12:57a one-time bridge to that permanent, meaningful property tax reform, we're not opposed to it. I wish
13:04we could have gotten it done this year, but we are where we are. Let's get a proposal that delivers
13:09that meaningful, permanent reform, and if there's a rebate in it that kind of bridges the gap, that's okay.
13:14To be clear, it sounds like you're accepting the premise that it's too late to implement a
13:20home state revision this year? We needed the bill by February 15th.
13:23Yeah. Any other questions? Yeah.
13:29I was going to go to the Behavioral Health Commission's work over the last intro,
13:32but I'm just wondering, I know that was a huge deal for legislature and your administration
13:37in the last session. Do you feel like the proposals that have made about your 10 recommendations
13:43of the conditions 22 has been as transformational as promised?
13:48Yeah. So the question's about the Behavioral Health Commission and the significant commitment
13:54we made in the last legislature to really reform the way we do behavioral health in the state,
14:00rebuilding our Montana State Hospital, as well as bringing back community-based behavioral health.
14:07I'm really pleased with the work the commission has done. I approve the 10 recommendations that they
14:13formulated. Again, it was a bipartisan group. We got experts involved. This is a big problem,
14:20and it's been broken in the state for a long time. So it's going to take a while
14:24for all of the expenditures that were allocated to actually come into full effect, but I'm pleased
14:30with the progress that's being made.
14:32Do you have any ideas? This is C-Born Lexington community newspapers, by the way. The money
14:37that is remaining from that $300 million allocation, do you have any ideas about where
14:40you'd like to see that money going forward?
14:42Yeah. So the remaining money in the Behavioral Health Commission, I'm really relying on the
14:47commission to make recommendations. I think they've done, it's sort of like, you know, as I always say,
14:52football games are won with three to five yard plays. We're running a bunch of plays now.
14:55You huddle back up once you do those and you figure out what to do next. It's kind of a,
15:01let's, we ought to look at what's working. We did this with our property taxes. We, we did,
15:07we did this with our affordable housing. We put forward a number of proposals. We implemented them.
15:12We reviewed the success of them and then made subsequent recommendations. We're going to do the
15:17same thing in the Behavioral Health Area. Yeah. Yes.
15:20I need to address again, back to housing. You mentioned your home's proposal, which is
15:25five years moving. On the zoning reform side of that region, are there any bills that you support
15:31in concept, at least at this point in the session?
15:33Yeah. So questions about other housing reforms in this session, in addition to the Homes Act.
15:39As I recall, the affordability, the housing task force made a series of additional recommendations.
15:49We're generally supportive of those, most of them. And I think a number of them are making it through the
15:55the process. I'll look forward to getting them to my desk. Yeah.
15:59Yeah. So questions about property taxes and other versions of bills that are floating through the
16:17legislature. We've been pretty clear. We need permanent, meaningful relief. The other hard
16:24line that we've drawn is that we do not think we should take someone's income tax dollars and use
16:31it to backfill local spending. So that's something we will not do. Good. Yeah. You can have the last
16:38question. I think you're aware there's been a lot of consternation within your party about some
16:45Republican lawmakers who sided with Democrats on certain votes. I'm wondering if you think that's
16:51a squandering mandate from the election or if you think accommodating and compromising
16:57for Democrats is a good idea or a fair idea. How does that apply to property taxes coming up? Do you
17:03think that's going to play a role? Yeah. I think that every single person who is elected to the
17:09legislature is representing their constituents. I'm going to advocate for conservative solutions
17:14to these problems. Ultimately, I can't sign bills that don't get to me. But as I focused on today,
17:20this is the to-do list we think we've been given by the people of Montana. And honestly,
17:25I don't know if there's a lot of disagreement between either side of the aisle on these priorities.
17:31I know there's different views on how to do them. But we're going to continue to advocate
17:35for the things that we think will make meaningful permanent difference for the people of Montana.
17:39There's one online? We've got two online. Okay. Zeke, go ahead.
17:47Yeah. Hi. Thanks. This is Zeke Lloyd with Montana Free Press. I'm curious how you're feeling about
17:53Cass Meyers. I think it's 7 Bill 321. Just generally curious about your thoughts on tax credits for
18:00children and parents with young kids. You have to remind me what 321 is.
18:04Go ahead, John. Tax credits. Can you make tax credits for
18:10parents with kids? Eric? Yeah. Okay. So there's still a lot of bills moving through the legislature and
18:16I'll consider them when they get to me. Governor, we also have Josh online. Okay. Go ahead, Josh.
18:23Yeah. Good morning, Governor. Josh Borgo is NBC Montana. You might answer the same
18:27way you get to the last question, but I want to throw it out there. There's a bill that's
18:31getting pretty close to your desk that will repeal the two-year ban of lobbying for public employees,
18:36former government personnel allowing them to be lobbyists like right after they serve in the
18:40legislature. I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on that either philosophically or
18:44kind of like when it comes to your desk, what you're going to do with it or you want to hold your
18:47cards. Yeah. I think I'll, I, we haven't seen the bill yet. I'll, you'll, we'll certainly have a
18:53chance to weigh in if it gets to me. So thank you. Thanks everybody.