Gianforte Presents Budget For State
With one of the goals being to make Montana more business friendly, Gov. Greg Gianforte and budget director Kurt Alme released their proposed budget during a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 7.
Gianforte, in his first week in office, described the plan as the “road map to the Montana comeback.”
The budget includes $50 million in tax reductions including decreasing the marginal individual income tax rate from 6.9 percent to 6.75 percent. Gianforte noted the state loses too many businesses to nearby states such as Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.
“This is just the first step,” the Republican said. “Our goal is to continue decreasing the tax rate over time.”
Proposals include equipment tax cuts and providing incentives for businesses to come to Montana. The budget would eliminate the business equipment tax for about 4,000 businesses by increasing the exemption from $100,000 to $200,000.
He noted the cuts will not result in reduced services for Montanans. The majority of the savings is coming from decreasing proposed increases from the previous administration.
“We’ve held the line on new spending,” Gianforte said. “There are no cuts to undermine any essential services.”
The plan calls for $23.5 million to be earmarked for dealing with the state’s drug epidemic. Funds will be utilized for treatment, education and recovery. Revenue sources will include funds associated with marijuana and tobacco sales.
“The crisis is ripping apart our communities,” Gianforte said of the drug epidemic.
Funds will be used to continue five drug treatment courts in the state and add 14 new parole/probation officers.
Additional district judges are planned for Gallatin and Flathead counties.
The TEACH Act will include a total of $2.5 million to improve the starting teaching wage in Montana. Gianforte explained that there will be incentives offered to school boards for raising starting teachers’ pay.
The governor is also looking to benefit the state’s trade education programs by offering credits to businesses.
Gianforte said his budget will bring fiscal responsibility back to state government while maintaining social services.
The budget is a 1.66 percent increase during the next two years.
