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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Gov Bullock On His Goals For A Second Term

Gov. Bullock was one of the few Montana Democrats celebrating on election night.
Mike Albans
Gov. Bullock was one of the few Montana Democrats celebrating on election night.

Republicans won big on election day, nationally and in Montana. The only statewide Democrat to win public office was Governor Steve Bullock who will begin his second term next month. Montana Public Radio's Capitol Reporter Corin Cates-Carney sat down with the governor earlier this week to discuss his reelection and the legislative session ahead.

Corin Cates-Carney: First of all, congratulations on your reelection. As your first term comes to an end here, what do you think your major accomplishments were those first four years?

Steve Bullock: I'm pleased, Corin, that we could bring Democrats and Republicans together to get a whole bunch of different things done; from record investments in education, but we've also seen record results; from work we did for campaign transparency, Medicaid expansion. What we're seeing overall with business and income growth certainly don't ... neither I nor the legislature should take all credit for that. In part we helped foster an environment to allow that to occur. So we are seeing more people working there than before, household income growing among the fastest in the nation, and still recognized for not only our investments in education but for our fair tax burden.

CCC: Going into your second term the political cast around you is much different than it was when you first came into office. Do you think that that will impact your role and ability as governor?

SB: I don't know that the political cast around me is that much different, in as much as that, in both of our first two legislative sessions during my first term, tried to underscore that this isn't about wins and losses in Helena this is about what we could do overall for our state. So we actually saw folks come together in a whole lot of different ways, and had to do that in as much as, you know with the legislature at 60 percent Republican, to move this state forward.

CCC: The cast is different in the way the state land board looks much different now as far as political party makeup and now you're going to be the lone Democratic member of that land board.

SB: Well I think even if you look over this last four years certainly there was four Democrats on the land board and one Republican. But almost, to a tee, there was unanimity in decision-making. As land board members, we're trustees. We have to maximize the value for the trust but also do it with the perspective that you're a bit player. At most you have four or eight years in this seat. But you also have to be thinking long-term about the resources, the 5.2 million acres that we manage. It's not like the one Republican member, Attorney General Fox, was taking really different positions than the rest of the board.

CCC: And with the session coming up in a few weeks can you kind of explain what some of your goals and priorities are?

SB: As I did in the first session, I'll insist on some fiscal markers: that we shouldn't be spending more than we bring in, and on the one hand, yeah that's a constitutional imperative, but on the other hand, first session [I] had to veto over $100 million in spending to make sure that that was correct. I will again insist that we leave money in the bank; will build it back up to $300 million for a rainy day fund, have a number of proposals both in my budget and outsid,e and that goes for everything from infrastructure investment to our energy blueprint to some tax fairness proposals.

CCC: Senator Fred Thomas said that Republicans could be open to increasing the gas tax. Is that something that you're administration would be open to?

SB: Well we haven't had a gas tax increase since 1992, It funds, in part, the highway construction that we have and the ability to take advantage of federal dollars. It also plays into the funding of the Highway Patrol as the former attorney general, the highway patrol is, that whole agency is very, very important to me.

CCC: With some of those big cuts that are going on with the Highway Patrol, do we need to increase the gas tax to fund those?

SB: Yeah there's no cuts today, and we are going into a legislative session ...

CCC: There's your proposal, though ...

SB: The budget is just a starting point. I mean, I'm more than happy to talk to folks if, from Senator Thomas, to the contractors, to the town of Harlowton just recently said we ought to be doing this, so I'm more than willing to get into those discussions.

CCC: With the momentum that the Republicans have from the election, and maybe we didn't see drastic shifts in our own legislature, but overall it seems that the Republicans got a mandate on election day, and I'm wondering if that mandate is something that you might need to cater to as far as the will of the people? What does your role become in that sort of situation?

SB: I think my role becomes the exact same as it was for the first four years. On the one hand, you'd suggest a mandate, on the other hand, when President-elect Trump won Montana by 21, 22 points I was reelected by a larger margin than I was elected in 2012, and against spending that we hadn't seen in Montana. So, it really is that, I've worked and strived to say let's actually focus on results, not sort of the political banterings. From that piece, my role will remain exactly the same.

CCC: What do you think it says about you or your campaign that you were the lone Democrat. I remember you stumping with all those other candidates, and so what was your though process after that?

SB: Well I think that it ends up at 20-some percent at the federal level does change — the presidential level — does change some of the things that happened down below and it's a tide that certainly, it was challenging for many of the statewides to overcome. But, I think that I've also, not only what I want to do over the next four years, but had a track record of bringing people together to get things done. I mean, we were a split ticket state.

CCC: As you served as governor over the past four years has there been any change in your mindset of what it means to be governor and represent Montana?

SB: It is a, in some respects, maybe it evolves a little bit every day. It's a sobering and pretty amazing opportunity to walk into this building that we sit in each and every day and recognize the responsibility transcends beyond elections. It's not about just one faction or one individual. It's also about seeing what can you  accomplish today. But not about your legacy, but what impact will you have and will policy makers have that will extend far beyond your tenure in the office. So it's a wide lane you swim in as governor. When I came into this office after being attorney general I thought I had a lot of responsibility and a lot of things underneath me as attorney general. I guess that's a way to say it in part, that it's evolutionary. Have I changed since I first came in as governor? Yeah, I definitely have. Do I continue to grow and hopefully evolve in a constructive way for Montanans in this? Yeah, hopefully that's the case.

CCC: Governor, thanks for taking the time.

SB: Thank you Corin.

That was Governor Steve Bullock speaking with MTPR Capitol Reporter Corin Cates-Carney. Bullock won reelection in the 2016 elections by about four percentage points.

Corin Cates-Carney manages MTPR’s daily and long-term news projects. After spending more than five years living and reporting across Western and Central Montana, he became news director in early 2020.
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