We are gathering information from all statewide candidates as a resource for the 2024 Primary Elections. Responses were limited to 200 words per question. Political attacks may have been removed, but otherwise, the responses are published unedited.
What is your full name as it will appear on the ballot?
Greg Gianforte
What is your age?
63
Where do you live?
Helena, Montana
Please list your current and previous occupations.
Current: Governor of Montana
What is your education background?
Bachelor of Science in engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology; Master of Science in electrical engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology
What motivated you to seek the office of Governor?
I decided to run for governor in 2019, because for too long, Montana hadn’t lived up to our great potential. At that time, low wages and fewer opportunities had taken too many Montanans, including our kids and grandkids, from our great state for better opportunities elsewhere. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished since January 2021 – cutting taxes and red tape, investing in law enforcement and teachers, making record investments in education, increasing public access to more than 100,000 acres of public lands, putting policies in place to increase the supply of housing and make it more affordable, and making Montana debt-free. Despite what we’ve done, Joe Biden has not made it easy for Montanans – from rising prices and historic inflation to an open southern border that allows Mexican cartels to bring fentanyl and crime into our communities. As I look forward, we should build on what we’ve accomplished together to bring greater opportunities to more Montanans and protect our Montana way of life. I’m committed to ensuring Montanans keep more of what they earn, increasing our housing supply to make housing more affordable, and reforming our property tax system – from reining in out-of-control local spending that drives up property taxes to making sure out-of-staters, who have a second home here, pay their fair share.
What qualifications do you have to lead Montana’s government?
My experience as a businessman, entrepreneur, and job creator guides my focus on expanding opportunities for Montanans, creating good-paying jobs, and protecting our Montana way of life. My wife Susan and I started a business in our Bozeman home. It grew into the town’s largest commercial employer and created more than 500 high-wage Montana jobs which helped launch the high-tech sector in our state. When it comes down to it, I’m a businessman from the private sector, and with that background, I expect to deliver results and get the job done. Over the last three years, we have delivered on our pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-family agenda, including historic tax cuts for Montanans at every income level, made Montana debt-free, provided record funding for education, raised teacher pay, boosted funding for law enforcement, and increased access to more than 100,000 acres of public lands.
What should be the executive branch’s top three priorities for the next legislative session?
Montanans face an affordability crisis because of Joe Biden’s reckless spending policies that have raised the costs on everything, from housing to food to energy. Because of Biden's inflation tax, Montana families are paying nearly 22% more for the things they need since Joe Biden took office.
My focus is, and will be, aimed at helping make life more affordable for all Montanans.
First, Montanans shouldn’t face skyrocketing property taxes. I’ll continue to focus on long-term reforms that rein in out-of-control county spending that drives higher property taxes and ensure out-of-staters, who own second homes in Montana, pay their fair share.
Second, Joe Biden’s inflation has made it harder to own or rent a home and harder to afford the electricity bill. We’ll continue our work to make it easier to build more homes and make housing more affordable. We also must continue to expand energy production, from all sources, to keep pace with rising demand and ensure electricity is affordable and reliable.
Third, Montanans should keep more of what they earn. It’s your money, not the government’s. That’s why we delivered the largest tax cut in state history, providing a tax cut to Montanans at every income level. We must continue to responsibly cut taxes.
What changes, if any, should the state make to its tax system?
Over the last three years, we’ve twice delivered the largest income tax cut in state history, cutting taxes for Montanans at every income level. We should continue to responsibly cut the income taxes hardworking Montanans pay.
As I’ve said repeatedly and as Montanans know all too well, property taxes are too high and need to be reined in. Last year, we delivered Montana homeowners with property tax rebates of up to $1,350, as well as permanent reforms that saved them over $120 million. Taken together, these measures completely offset the property tax increase of the average Montana homeowner.
I’m committed to delivering long-term solutions to rising property taxes. With 85% of property taxes being collected and spent at the local level, I support reining in out-of-control county spending. Just like hardworking Montanans, government at all levels, including local government, should live within its means. We should also provide Montana homeowners with a homestead exemption, ensuring out-of-staters, who own second homes in Montana, pay their fair share for our law enforcement, schools, and roads and bridges.
What steps, if any, should the state take to address the rise in fentanyl-related deaths in Montana?
Fentanyl seizures have increased by 20,000% since 2019. This crisis has left no community untouched. We must cut off the supply by securing our southern border, where drugs are entering our country with Joe Biden’s open border policies. Because of Biden’s failure to lead, Montana is being overrun by fentanyl trafficked into our state by Mexican drug cartels. In addition to sending members of the Montana National Guard to Texas to help secure the southern border, I was proud to sign a law that cracks down on those peddling the poison of fentanyl into our communities. We now impose a mandatory minimum sentence of two years of jail time, a $50,000 fine, or both, for anyone convicted of trafficking fentanyl in Montana.
Securing the southern border will help address the supply of fentanyl, but we must also address the demand. In my first week in office, I introduced the HEART Fund, or Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment. Investing about $25 million from recreational marijuana tax revenue and a federal match, the HEART Fund expands behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment programs for our Montana communities.
What, if anything, should the state do to address climate change?
As I’ve said repeatedly, to address our changing climate, we must focus on American innovation and ingenuity, not costly, expansive government mandates that will kill Montana jobs and our economy.
Our nation must have an all-of-the-above energy policy, like Montana does, to become energy independent and secure again. Unfortunately, the Biden administration has put its thumb on the scale, picking winners and losers for energy sources. We haven’t, and won’t, in Montana.
I’ve been proud to challenge a number of Joe Biden’s efforts to pick winners and losers, from terminating the Keystone XL pipeline in his first week in office, to his work to undermine liquified natural gas, to his electric vehicle mandates. We must let the American consumer drive the marketplace, not the government.
We must continue to expand energy production, from all sources, to keep pace with rising demand and ensure electricity is affordable and reliable for Montanans. That’s what guides my approach to energy policy.
What, if anything, should the state do to improve the affordability of housing in Montana?
I understand the cost of living is quickly becoming out of reach for many Montanans. The housing problem has existed, but was ignored, in Montana since 2010. Between 2010 and 2020, our population grew 10%, but housing grew by 7%.
I’m proud of what we’ve done in a bipartisan way to address the affordable housing crisis in the last few years. Because government cannot spend our way out of the
housing crisis, we’ve emphasized reforms that increase housing supply while protecting our way of life from sprawl.
Working with legislators and the bipartisan Housing Task Force I launched, we made Montana a national leader, leading the charge and delivering historic pro-housing reforms that will boost supply and make housing more affordable and attainable. We reformed land use planning to make it faster, easier, and cheaper to build homes. We invested $100 million to expand water and sewer infrastructure for communities that build more densely. We reformed our laws to allow accessory dwelling units, apartments in commercial areas, and increased access to starter homes.
Some pro-housing advocates are calling our bipartisan reforms the “Montana Miracle.” The results won’t come overnight, but I’m proud of what we’ve done and remain focused on continuing to build on our pro-housing reforms.
What should the state Land Board prioritize as it manages state trust lands?
The State Land Board has a constitutional obligation to ensure that state trust lands are generating revenue for Montana’s public schools and to protect those lands for future generations.
In keeping with our laws, our state trust lands must be managed for multiple use, including agriculture and timber. Our farmers, ranchers, miners, and loggers are among the strongest, most committed conservationists. They tend to the land they work.
Our state trust lands also provide public access for recreation. And as we continue to manage our state trust lands for multiple use, I’m proud that my administration has worked with local stakeholders and communities to expand public access to more than 100,000 acres of public lands.
Since 2021, our state trust lands have generated over $55 million for our public schools and the students they serve.
The Land Board must ensure it continues to meet its constitutional obligation to generate revenue to the benefit of our common schools and protect our lands for future generations.