#MTGov Daily Rundown: Bullock's Hypocritical and Misleading Op-Ed

In Governor Bullock's final Billings Gazette op-ed before the election, the governor paints a glowing picture of his first term. He starts by citing values that Montanans believe in before arguing that his leadership has been effective. However, the facts show that Bullock has not lived up to these values and that many of his claims are false.

VALUE: "I love that Montanans believe in an open and transparent government."

• FACT: The Bullock Administration won't say why it's paid nearly $700K in employee settlements
• Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock’s administration has paid more than $900,000 in settlements to state employees over the last three years, according to public records. On most, state agencies won’t say why.
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• The state has paid 42 employees settlements totaling more than $745,000. Each is listed as 'confidential' in the state’s checkbook, which has been published online since 2013, the year Bullock first took office. The payments range in amounts from $120 to $122,000." -Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 10/13/2016

• FACT: Bullock deleted all of his emails from his time as Attorney General
• “Note the email accounts for former Attorney General Steve Bullock and his appointed staff members no longer exist, so neither the accounts nor their archives are available to search,’ he wrote. Blixseth has asked state officials for a copy of the minutes of the meeting in which they followed proper protocols and requested destruction of emails." -Great Falls Tribune, 8/31/2016
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• "Andrew J. Huff, chief legal counsel for Bullock, said the governor’s office does not maintain public information archives from the attorney general’s office or other state agencies.
  
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• “With some limited exceptions, the governor’s office does not store public information that predates January 2013 when Governor Bullock came into office,” he wrote July 26." -Great Falls Tribune, 8/31/2016

VALUE: "I love that our state lives within its means"

• FACT: State Spending Has Increased by $800 million under Bullock: Under Governor Bullock, state general fund spending during the 2011-2013 biennium (before Bullock took office) was $3.238 billion (HB2, 2011) For the 2015-2017 biennium, state general fund spending is $4.051 billion (HB2, 2015), an increase of more than $800 million, or more than 20 percent.

CLAIM: "We’ve seen consistent economic growth and we led the nation in household income growth last year."

• FACT: Montana has experienced two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.
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• "The Montana economy has shrunk for the second straight quarter as oil and gas, timber,    mining, agriculture and transportation all reported losses.
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• The Billings Gazette reports that according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis report issued this week, drops in industry pulled Montana’s gross domestic product into negative figures for the last three months of 2015 as well as the first quarter of 2016." -Associated Press via the Great Falls Tribune 7/31/2016
  
  "In the final quarter of 2015, the state's gross domestic product shrank 1 percent. It contracted 0.9 percent in the first three months of 2016." -Billings Gazette, 7/29/2016
  
  "Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska had consecutive quarters of negative economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016." -Washington Free Beacon, 7/28/2016

• FACT: Montana had higher wage growth BEFORE Bullock took office than we had in 2015: Montanans experienced fairly strong wage growth in 2012, with the average annual wage increasing 3.6% to $37,093 See: Montana Labor Report, 2012

CLAIM: "I insisted we balance the budget with a responsible rainy day fund to weather the economic factors that are out of our control."

• FACT: A Balanced Budget is REQUIRED by the Montana Constitution: “Appropriations by the legislature shall not exceed expected revenue.” -Constitution of Montana, Article VIII, Section 9

• FACT: Montana’s Revenues Are Declining and Ending Fund Balance Projections are Down to $100 Million

·         “The state's budget surplus is projected to shrink to $109 million by next year, according to a new legislative report, which says state tax revenues continue to fall short of expectations. The projected budget surplus for mid-2017 had been about $300 million, after the 2015 Legislature and Gov. Steve Bullock approved the two-year budget.” -MTN News, 9/28/2016

·         “Earlier this summer, Montana ended the 2016 fiscal year with $100 million less in the bank than it had projected. By next summer, the state’s cash balance could fall another $100 million more than planned and come within $1 million of the trigger for automatic agency cuts, according to a recent report by the Legislative Fiscal Division.” -Missoulian, 10/1/2016

·        “At one time officials predicted that the state would have $314 million in ending fund balance as of June 2017, but lower revenue projections for 2017, such as a 34 percent dip in oil and natural gas taxes, a 37 percent drop in the metal mines tax and an 80 percent decrease in Treasury Cash Account interest earnings all contributed to the shortfall, LFD officials said.” -Great Falls Tribune, 9/7/2016

·        “The LFD staff, which reports to the Legislature whereas the governor relies on his state budget director, noted the lower revenue trends were expected to continue into 2017 and the new ending general fund balance for FY 2017 is projected to be $109 million, officials said.” -Great Falls Tribune, 9/7/2016

CLAIM: "We've lowered taxes."

• FACT:  Bullock Refused to Cut Taxes, Vetoed 3 Tax Reduction Bills

·     “The state House and Senate GOP caucuses touted tax cuts as a high priority for the 2015 session, but every major tax initiative that was passed out of the Republican-controlled Legislature has been vetoed by Gov. Steve Bullock. Bullock shot down the last of three principal tax proposals from Republicans on Monday. The other two vetoes came earlier this year on proposals to cut income taxes by 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent for every bracket.” -Associated Press 5/7/2016

CLAIM: "His so-called tax plan would blow a hole in Montana’s rainy day fund in order to give tax breaks to millionaires like him, while sticking the rest of us with practically nothing."

• FACT: Gianforte’s Tax Plan is a Practical, Common Sense Plan: The bill Gianforte has touted as a model for tax reform had a fiscal note of less than $30 million over the 2015-2017 beinnium, dramatically simplified our tax structure, and reduced taxes for 63% of Montanans that are in the highest tax bracket. The business equipment tax would be phased out over 4 years.

• FACT: Revenues nearly doubled from Montana’s last major tax cuts in 2003 until Bullock took office in 2013
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Source: LFD

• FACT: 63% of Montana taxpayers pay the highest income tax rate

 

Source: LFD