Gianforte Would Rely on Personal Responsibility Rather Than Mandates

On Monday, Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte appeared on KGVO’s Montana Morning Show to discuss the upcoming election. According to Gianforte, half of Montanans have already voted and there is a lot at stake right now.

“Even before the COVID situation started, Montana was 44th in the nation; we have the lowest starting teacher pay in the entire country,” Gianforte said. “We have the second highest number of kids in foster care per capita. 16 years of Democrats in the governor's office has not produced a great result. My proposition is pretty simple. I love this state. I have business experience. I'm ready to go there, roll up my sleeves, and get our economy open back up again. Let's get people back to work. Let's start managing a forest again. Let's invest in trades education. I think Montana's best days are ahead of us.”

With a recent spike in COVID-19 cases, Montana schools are experiencing more closures and are implementing more restrictions. Gianforte said the heathiest thing for our children is to get our schools opened back up.

“In Congress, we sent the state $1.25 billion to help them do exactly that,” Gianforte said. “Unfortunately, most of the money is still sitting in Helena. I would have gotten it out a lot faster. I'm optimistic that we'll have a vaccine. If I'm fortunate enough to get sworn into office in January, I think we'll have one by then. We need to prioritize our health care workers and people that are most vulnerable, but we've also got to get the economy open back up. We have an economic pandemic that we need a cure for as well.”

According to Gianforte, Montana needs to do a better job when it comes to protecting senior citizens.

“Unfortunately, under the governor’s current plan right now, we are asking seniors that get COVID-19 positive tests to stay in the senior centers with health seniors, putting them at risk,” Gianforte said. “We can take much better care of them if we create COVID-19 specific treatment centers.”

If elected Governor of Montana, Gianforte said he would take input from public health officials and industry leaders. He said he would rely on personal responsibility rather than mandates.