Back in April, the feds gave Montana $1.25 billion.
Steve Bullock holds the purse strings. He’s been hesitant to release that money.
In fact, just 2.5% of that money was given out as of last month, or $31 million.
Why?
The reason is simple - Bullock wants to hold onto that money until October.
That’s a month before his Senate election. At that point, he’ll begin to release that money on a daily basis.
Can you imagine the daily headlines?
“Bullock saves Bozeman businesses from going under”...”Plentywood generational business saved because of Governor’s stimulus”...”Town doesn’t have to shut down for good - Governor steps in at the last minute.”
How is Daines going to compete with that?
He’s not.
But are Montana small businesses going to be able to stay open for another 106 days until the election, and then over a month more until new reps are sworn-in?
I dunno.
Of course, there’s always another option for this $1.25 billion - give it out.
Bullock quickly gathered together a coterie of campaign donors to administer the money and come up with ideas of how it could be spent.
“The $1.25 billion appropriation equates to $1,169 for each Montana resident, and is 39 times the size of the Montana Department of Commerce’s $32 million annual budget.”
We do know for a fact that no one but Bullock can spend this money. The deadline put forth by the feds says the money has to be spent by December 30. So Gianforte will never get his hands on it when he takes office in January.
You’d think, therefore, that Bullock wouldn’t be so hesitant to dole the money out.
Again, this is a calculated move by Bullock and the 26 sycophants surrounding him.
Wait until October.
It’s not about small businesses or families or even Montana. It’s all about Steve, and making sure he gets that Senate gig.
“I think there is a growing frustration with the slow pace of that,” Brad Griffin of the Montana Restaurant Association told MTN News this week. “It doesn’t do any good to sit in a bank account up in Helena.”
But it does do good.
It does a lot of good...for Bullock.
Come October, he’ll ride in on his white horse, doling out your tax dollars to businesses that are about to go under.
He’ll get the headlines.
Chances are damn good he’ll get the senate seat as well.
There’s absolutely no way Daines can compete with the governor’s ability to dole out $1 billion to anyone he wants, with absolutely no strings attached.
