Montana Governor Talks TikTok, Money and Rock and Roll
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte stopped by the Z100 studios this morning to talk with the Chris and Ashley Show. The Governor is starting his 56 county tour of the state. This is the third tour of the state since he has become governor. He also toured the state three times when he was in Congress. We asked the Governor about what has been happening and he brought up the latest legislative session. He said:
We had a really good session. We passed the largest tax cut in the state's history. People should expect to see some rebate checks this summer. Everybody that paid income tax is gonna get a check for $1250. A couple will get $2500, that's automatic, it will just show up, as long as you paid that much last year. There's rebates on property taxes, every home owner is going to see a check for $675 this year and next year. And just here in Missoula County we also permanently reduced the income tax rates, that's going to mean people in Missoula County will pay $35 million dollars less in income tax over the next two years.
Montana's TikTok Ban
Another topic that has gotten not only national attention but international attention is Montana's banning of the TikTok app. We asked the Governor, "Why Montana, leading the way on that?" Here is what the Governor said:
Montanan's privacy is critically important to them. We have a very strong privacy clause in our state constitution. We're just not going to allow foreign adversaries to surveil the people of Montana. It was recently reported it looks like social security numbers were collected and shipped to China out of this application.
The Governor Wanted an Amendment to the Bill
The Governor tried to strengthen the bill that was sent to him for signature with an amendment to the original bill, but the legislative session ended before the amendment could be considered. He discussed the changes he wanted to make:
The changes were pretty simple. The bill says you can't use TikTok. That's right but, if they change their name to TokTik, it wouldn't apply anymore. So what I proposed was, to say listen, there's a class of applications that should not be allowed on Montanan's phones. That class is social media apps owned by a foreign adversary. We used a federal list of foreign adversaries.
The Governor voiced his concern for other social media applications that collect data, but at this point, they don't rise to the level of TikTok.
Rock and Roll
There was one final question that Chris and Ashley were curious about, so they asked "Loudest rock concert you ever attended?" Here is what Governor Gianforte had to say on that topic:
I have to dig deep, but I think, the loudest rock concert was probably Led Zeppelin or Dire Straits., but I have to go pretty far back to find that.
The Governor will be continuing his trip around Montana over the summer.
To listen to the entire interview click below.