Montana News

Local US Senators weigh in on fiscal cliff vote

Posted: Jan 1, 2013 3:08 PM by Adam Bell

Late last night the U.S. Senate passed a bi-partisan bill to avoid the fiscal cliff, and both Montana's U.S. Senators voted in support of this bill. In a statement released today, Senator Jon Tester said "This deal is far from perfect, but it provides the tax relief Montanans deserve while preventing irresponsible cuts that would hurt our kids and seniors. This deal is not the big, long-term, bipartisan solution to cut our debt that the American people expect from Congress. I'll keep working on a responsible plan to cut our debt without jeopardizing our economy."

Senator Max Baucus also voted in support of this bill saying "My Montana Bosses told me, whatever you do max, get it done, solve it, don't let us go over this fiscal cliff, get it done. And we've done that. This will help assure Montanans that we have jobs, help create more certainty and assure that taxes don't go up so, it's not perfect, but it's good.

The bill reached by the Senate also includes a nine-month extension of the 2008 Farm Bill that lapsed in September. Senator Baucus adds that "while this provides a safety net for farmers and bankers, we need to find a more permanent solution." The bill extends the 2008 farm bill through September of this year.