Montana Senator on Flooding, First Responders and Voter Turnout

Montana Senator Steve Daines called into the KGVO Newsmakers line on Thursday to discuss a number of issues both nationally and here in Montana.

Daines referenced the response to the floods that devastated Yellowstone National Park and the amazing response by first responders.

“We spent some time certainly in the Yellowstone Park gateway communities because there'll be suffering from the hit in the tourism economy,” said Senator Daines.  “I'm so proud of how fast we bounced back and to see Montana's resilience, getting repairs already done, and working hard to salvage the summer season because it really means a lot for tourism in these communities surrounding Yellowstone National Park.”

Daines then discussed two bills that complemented each other, in that the revenues recovered from one bill went after tax cheats to help fund a bill to provide funding to pay for treatment incurred by first responders.

“This really stemmed from the story of Heidi and Ladd Paulsen, a police officer,” he said. “Ladd was in Billings and was severely injured in the line of duty a motorcycle officer and they've been fighting for this and we got it passed yesterday, so it'll be a tax cut for our first responders,” he said. “We combine those two and it gives us the ability to pay for these tax cuts by going after these tax cheats. So, that's the marriage between these two bills, and they both passed the U.S. Senate Finance Committee yesterday by a 23 to five vote.”

Daines also brought up the subject of inflation, which he blamed solely on the policies of the Biden Administration.

“The top three issues for Montanans are inflation, inflation, and inflation,” he said.  “(Former Treasury Secretary) Larry Summers, a Democrat, was saying the exact same things back in March of 2021, saying don't jam this $2 trillion dollar spending bill. It's going to ignite massive inflation, and he was right. We were right. Biden was wrong, and now the American people in Montana are suffering the consequences.”

Daines wrapped up the conversation by expressing his confidence that Republicans both in Montana and across the U.S. will prevail in the upcoming November general election.

“This is a pattern we're seeing across the states and coast to coast in America; huge Republican turnout,” he said. “There's a lot of energy, a lot of motivation because Republicans are coming to the polls saying ‘we've got to change up who's serving back in Washington because of the consequences of elections’. So that's very heartening to see that the motivation of the Republican base at the moment, and I think we're going to see a tremendous red wave in November, not only in Montana but across this country.”

Daines calls into the KGVO Newsmakers line about once a month.