Helena, MT – Bombshell news from the Montana State News Bureau is reporting Governor Greg Gianforte is sitting on a pot of money with virtually no restrictions on how the interest money accrued from the funds can be spent.

New reporting revealed Gianforte is currently sitting on an $86 million unrestricted interest fund from unspent COVID-19 relief funds the state received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) designed to help states bounce back from the pandemic.

While the ARPA funds are restricted to projects like infrastructure improvements, the interest generated on the funds has left the Governor with an unrestricted slush fund.

“First and foremost, Montana legislators have the power of the purse, not Greg Gianforte. There is zero accountability and oversight over this massive pot of money and Montanans deserve more transparency on how tax dollars are being spent,” said Justin Ailport, Interim Executive Director of the Montana Democratic Party. “Governor Gianforte is sitting on millions of dollars that could otherwise be spent on property tax relief, funding our public schools, and making life more affordable for working Montanans and their families.”

Montana State News Bureau: Gianforte office controls an unrestricted interest fund worth $86 million, and counting

By Victoria Eavis

February 15th, 2025

→ Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s budget office is home to tens of millions of dollars in unrestricted money that is continuously accumulating, some of which has already been spent on a smattering of projects, according to records obtained by the Montana State News Bureau.

→ Some of that money was provided by Gianforte's administration to Sen. Jason Ellsworth, who used it for his legislative committee on judicial oversight, which churned out 27 bills aimed to rein in the judicial branch's power. The governor's office said it was not aware Ellsworth was seeking the money for the committee. That effort ended in controversy after Ellsworth attempted to use some of the money to hire his former business associate and longtime friend with a contract that did not adhere to state rules.

→ Earlier this year, the Montana State News Bureau revealed that Ellsworth attempted to allocate $170,100 given to his judicial oversight committee to his former business associate through a contract that improperly circumvented the bidding process. That money originally came from the state’s ARPA interest fund.

→ Longtime appropriations committee member Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, took issue with the governor’s spending of the interest given ARPA’s original intent “to go into the community, create jobs, put people to work, provide healthcare for children and stabilize the communities,” she said.

→ “It's not the governor's little private slush fund,” Caferro said. “Especially now when things are so unaffordable,” she later added.