Gov. Greg Gianforte’s budget director is stepping down after about eight months on the job. The crafter of Gianforte’s first executive budget lobbied for the governor’s fiscal policies during the last legislative session.
Director Kurt Alme says in a news release he’s stepping down from the position to move back home to Billings where his family lives. He says the commute to Helena was “unworkable for the long term.”
Alme was one of Gianforte’s first appointments after he won election to the governor’s office, and previously served as Montana’s U.S. Attorney.
As budget director, Alme helped build the executive budget, which pushed for tax cuts, a marginal increase in general fund spending and investment in addiction prevention and treatment programs.
Sen. Ryan Osmundson, a Republican from Buffalo, will succeed Alme as budget director. He serves now as chair of the Legislative Finance Committee.
Alme’s last day is Oct. 1.
