Montana State of the State Speech Occurs This Week, House Leadership Expecting to Disagree

Governor Steve Bullock is scheduled to present the State of the State address this week. Bullock will deliver the speech in the chambers of the Montana House of Representatives, which is currently run by Republicans. House Majority Leader Ron Ehli, says his party will be listening intently to the Governor’s speech.

"We're anxious to see what the Governor has to say and how he portrays the State of the State. That's always the question: what he has to say about where he thinks we are. I'm pretty certain that the Republicans are going to come out with a little different statement. Again, it's not a big surprise that we're not necessarily going to agree about the direction this state is headed."

The legislative session so far has been marked by tough decisions over a tight budget. Ehli says he’s curious how the governor will frame this issue.

"We're going to be asking questions, you know, 'How did we get to where we are? How did we end up with this crisis of management that we feel we have with the state budget? So, we're anxious to see what the governor says and how he portrays the plan to the people of Montana, and then we'll respond accordingly."

Bullock’s State of the State address is scheduled to run between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Tuesday evening, January 24.