Governor Steve Bullock named a new state budget director Thursday. Bullock is tapping the current head of the Department of Environmental Quality for the job as the state’s top accountant.
Tom Livers is moving from one cabinet position within the Bullock administration to another. Bullock appointed him head of the Montana DEQ in 2014. Before that, he worked for more than a decade as deputy director for the department, and also lead the department’s technical and financial assistance bureau.
Livers takes over for Dan Villa, who was selected in August as the next top officer at the Montana Board of Investments. Villa is expected to transition out of his role in the governor’s office by the end of the month.
At a Legislative Finance Committee meeting Thursday, Villa received a send off from lawmakers, including Republican Senator Eric Moore who called Villa a worthy political adversary and someone dedicated to the state of Montana.
“We may have disagreed on what path to take to get to point-A. But we usually agreed that point-A was the place we wanted to get to,” Moore said.
Tom Livers is stepping in as the new state budget director just months before Governor Bullock publishes his latest budgeting plans that will reveal the adminsition’s policy goals heading into the 2019 legislative session. Lives will assume the responsibilities of state budget director on September 25.
