Governor has ‘neither the business acumen nor the morality to run this state,’ Busse says
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“Greg Gianforte has neither the business acumen nor the morality to run this state. Other states have handled this process cleanly, while Gianforte has created the most expensive Montana ever. He is hurting kids and families. He’s hurting our economy and its workers. And now Greg Gianforte has the gall to say his dangerous, harmful plan for Montana is ‘working as intended.’ It’s time to get your Montana back.”
On Tuesday, Busse and his lieutenant governor running mate, Raph Graybill, joined several Montanans who shared devastating stories about how Gianforte has booted nearly 133,000 Montanans, including 36,000 children, off their health care over the past year. Many of these disenrollments from Medicaid coverage were due to avoidable errors and red tape in Gianforte’s Department of Health and Human Services.
“The only reason there’s not 500 people standing up here is because these are working people–they can’t take time off,” Busse said Tuesday.
Other speakers, health care providers–and constituents–whom Gianforte dismissed as “activists” with “tired talking points” included:
- VIDEO: KRISTEN MELLI, a pediatric nurse practitioner who lives in Kalispell but provides services to children on the Fort Peck Reservation;
- VIDEO: DR. TESS AUGUSTINE, a pediatrician who read a statement from a Montanan whose children are patients with disabilities; and
- VIDEO: MEGAN MARTIN, a small business owner and mother whose application for Medicaid coverage is still pending after weeks of waiting.
A full video of Tuesday’s news conference is online HERE.
QUICK FACTS:
- Pronunciation: Ryan BUSS’-ee
- Home: Kalispell, Mont.
- Office Sought: Governor of Montana
- Affiliation: Democrat
- Website: busseformontana.com
- X (Twitter): @ryandbusse
- DOB: 2/23/70 (53)
- Occupation: Writer, Consultant, Firearms Expert and Former Executive (Vice President of Sales, Kimber America: 1995-2020)
- Family: Married to Sara for 24 years; two sons: Lander (18) and Badge (15)
- Alma Mater: Bethany College (Kansas)
- Chevy Odometer: 280,000 miles
- Hunting Dogs: Aldo and Teddy
- Bio: Ryan Busse is an author and former firearms executive who helped build the gun company Kimber from Kalispell between 1995 and 2020. Over his 25-year career Busse directed the sales of nearly three million Kimber firearms. His memoir, Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America, was published by PublicAffairs (Hachette) in 2021. Busse was born near the Kansas cattle ranch homesteaded by his great-grandfather. He is an avid hunter, angler and champion of public lands, and has held leadership positions with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and Montana Conservation Voters. Busse and his wife Sara live in Kalispell and have two teenage sons.