Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte Holds the Line on Spending; More to Come 

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte recently signed the state’s $16.2 billion budget into law.  Following a legislative session that delivered a significant tax cut, the governor is now reinforcing Montana’s reputation as a fast-growing economically vibrant state. 

Montana is amongst the fastest growing states in the Union, ranking sixth for population growth in 2023 and third for economic growth between 2021 and 2024. As the state seeks to become a national leader on different fronts and has made tremendous strides, increased budgets and spending have been a pervasive problem that ought to be addressed.  

Montana’s biennial budget moved from $12.6 billion for the 2022-23 period to $16.6 billion for the 2024-25 period.  Despite these increases, the state’s financial future is much more secure thanks to the work of Republicans at the state level who have fought to balance the budget. The state still requires reforms to their spending to arrive towards a balanced budget, which Gov. Gianforte just took steps towards achieving. 

In this past legislative session, there was fierce debate on spending as Republican lawmakers pushed for a bill containing a balanced budget. In a press statement, Republican leaders accused “Democrats and their allies inflated our budget with reckless spending, repeatedly breaking normal legislative procedure” in order to advance a bill that violated the balanced budget provision of Montana’s state constitution. The leaders, which included Matt Regier, the President of the Montana Senate, Ken Bogner, the Senate President Pro Tempore, and Tom McGillvray, , the Senate Majority Leader and Carl Glimm, Chair of the Senate Finance & Claims Committee, called upon Gov. Gianforte to stand against a group of Republicans that voted to increase spending, and veto the excessive spending increases.  

As he signed the budget into law, Governor Gianforte issued a veto statement rejecting $350 million in spending, citing lawmakers’ responsibility to “protect [taxpayers] from unnecessary spending.” The vetoes, which include both previously passed bills and $53 million in line-item cuts, underscore the governor’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and to fulfill promises made to Montanans last November. 
 
Governor Gianforte’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and pro-growth tax cuts will continue to position Montana for long-term growth and continued economic success.