KALISPELL — Governor Greg Gianforte traveled to the Flathead on Wednesday to talk about his priorities before the legislative session ends.
“This is the to-do list that Montana voters gave to me and gave to the legislature and I’m looking forward to getting these bills to my desk,” said Governor Gianforte.
Governor Gianforte met with small business owners at the Rancher’s Daughter, a farm-to-table retail store in Kalispell.
He discussed his priority to deliver permanent property and income tax relief.
“We need to lower property taxes so that there’s more money in business owners’ pockets, we need to lower income taxes so that they can hire more employees, we’ve got to pass a fiscally conservative budget so that we don’t end up putting burdens on future generations.”
Governor Gianforte did cross off one box on his to-do list during his press conference: increasing starting teacher pay.
House Bill 252, known as the STARS Act, passed its final vote in the senate on Tuesday. The bill directs $100 million towards raising starting teacher pay in Montana’s schools.
“So, it doesn’t go to bureaucracy, it goes directly to the classroom to make sure we have the best and brightest there because our goal in all of education policy has to be to help every student reach their full potential and we need teachers in the classroom to make that happen.”
Governor Gianforte also talked about the significance of Bobby’s Law, a House Bill that strengthens the punishment for DUIs that result in death.
“I was pleased to have Bobby’s family at the capitol yesterday when I signed that bill into law and it just shows what people can do when they have a tragedy in their own life, they can turn it into something good, so now we have a new law in Montana, Bobby’s law that’s going to protect people from drunk drivers.”
