Bullock vetoes another tax cut
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By Michael Wright
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA — Gov. Bullock handed down another veto on a tax cut bill last week.
Last Thursday, shortly after the full House endorsed Medicaid expansion, Bullock’s office announced his veto of Senate Bill 200, which would have cut taxes by almost $80 million throughout the next two years.
House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, issued a statement after the veto announcement, calling the governor “disingenuous” for not signing the bill, which Knudsen said gave significant tax relief to the middle class.
In the statement, Knudsen added that the governor has shown he “does not want to provide any relief to the hardworking men and women across this state” and only wants to “grow government and increase spending.”
Bullock said the bill didn’t provide relief proportionally to taxpayers.
“The majority of it would have gone to the largest wage earners in the state,” Bullock said.
Bullock also said that after the 2013 session, he had to veto $150 million of spending to make sure the budget was structurally balanced, and that he didn’t want to do that again. The money for a tax cut would come out of the general fund revenue.
The bill, carried by Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, cleared both Houses in March on largely party line votes.
