Greg Gianforte Still Opposes Renewing Expanded Unemployment Benefits, One Week After Deadline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 7, 2020

Greg Gianforte Still Opposes Renewing Expanded Unemployment Benefits, One Week After Deadline

Gianforte Collects Thousands of Dollars from Taxpayers Per Week, While Skipping More Votes than 93% of his Colleagues

Helena, MT – After emergency relief for thousands of unemployed Montanans expired last Friday, Montana’s lone Congressman jetted out of town (potentially on his own private plane), instead of remaining in Washington to help negotiate a deal. In fact, Gianforte supported the July 31 deadline, and continues to oppose extending unemployment benefits for out-of-work Montanans, despite the ongoing pandemic.

Greg Gianforte has missed more votes than 93% of his colleagues in Congress, yet he collects a taxpayer-funded gross salary of nearly $3,500 per week. Still, when thousands of Montanans were forced out of work due to a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, Gianforte voted against a bipartisan COVID-19 relief package that would have extended unemployment benefits beyond last week’s July 31 expiration date.

Although some of Gianforte’s Republican colleagues have expressed interest in extending the emergency relief, Gianforte’s position remains that Montanans who are still out of work should receive $0 in extended unemployment benefits from the federal government.

“Greg Gianforte is plenty satisfied collecting government checks while barely showing up for work,” said MDP Deputy Communications Director Matt Fidel. “But when it comes to working families, Gianforte wants to leave Montanans who have fallen on hard times out in the cold. That’s Greg Gianforte, only out for himself, never Montanans.”

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