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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Republican Lawmakers Call For A 'Reality Check' On State Economy

Republican Representatives Brad Tschida, Ron Ehli, and Nancy Ballance.
Edward O'Brien
Republican Representatives Brad Tschida, Ron Ehli, and Nancy Ballance.

With the election six weeks away, Republican state lawmakers say Montana’s Democratic governor needs a reality check. They say the state’s economy is more fragile than Steve Bullock’s letting on.

Governor Bullock is pinning his re-election hopes, in part, on the strength of the state’s economy.

His stump speeches are peppered with references to Montana’s low unemployment, growing median household income and diversifying economy.

Republican State representative Nancy Ballance of Hamilton says the state’s economic picture is far from rosy.

“We know that our revenue is down. We know that our ending fund balance is down and yet what we’re seeing out of Governor Bullock’s office is the same rhetoric that says ‘everything is wonderful.’”

Ballance and 10 other Republican lawmakers recently signed a letter to Bullock, warning of a looming budget crisis.

That letter noted Montana’s 2017 fiscal year saving account balance is expected  to be less than half of earlier projections of over $300 million.

The governor’s office says many of the same Republicans who signed the letter also once thought a $300 million ending fund balance was too high.

Nancy Balance concedes that, “But if you planned for a high revenue estimate, if you planned for $350-million, then the fact that it falls down, that’s not a good thing, because where did that money go?”

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