In his first post-quarantine interview after heading back into the Governor's office, Governor Greg Gianforte (R-MT) fielded questions on a host of topics, covering everything from his recent ban on COVID-19 vaccine passports to illegal immigration, property taxes, and gun rights.

On gun rights, Gianforte says he is looking forward to signing HB 258 into law very soon.

GIANFORTE: What we're seeing coming out of Washington is very concerning, particularly for Second Amendment advocates. Our Constitution is very clear. It says our right to own and bear arms shall not be infringed. And if the federal government takes action to negatively impact our constitutional rights, we need to stand up here in Montana.  So I look forward to getting that bill on my desk. And I'll be signing it into law.

Jacob in Gallatin Gateway had a good question for the governor. When will he rescind the emergency order on COVID-19 in the state, especially since the numbers have gone down so rapidly in the places that have removed restrictions?

GIANFORTE: Well, I'm looking forward to doing that. Some of the funding that we use to distribute vaccines right now is available to us because of the state of emergency. We've been very clear that day one- we got rid of the capacity and hours of operations restrictions. We got rid of the mask mandate. We've gotten liability protection for small business. I'm looking forward to getting a liability protection for the state- that bill is moving through. So we're taking an incremental approach and look forward to getting back to normal.

He also talked about property taxes, illegal immigration, and more. Click below for the full podcast audio with Governor Gianforte:

Click here for more from our Montana Talks with Aaron Flint podcasts.

 

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