Press/Archives
Bullock Applauds U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Gun Rights (pdf)
Democrat joins race for AG job
Billings Gazette, 1/22/08
Rattling off reasons a Helena Democrat might kick off his campaign for attorney general in GOP-friendly Billings, Steve Bullock let the numbers do the talking.
One in seven: The number of Montana legal cases filed in Yellowstone County. One out of 10: the percentage of Montana school students attending Billings schools. Number of felony charges filed in Yellowstone County annually: 1,000-plus.
The stat he didn’t mention was the number of votes cast in Yellowstone County in the last statewide election: one in eight.
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Guest Opinion: No More Politics in Wage Debate
Montana Standard, 12/21/07
Nov. 7, 2006, seems like a long time ago, and election results often just fade into the history books. But the 2006 election is different. Because of the results of that day, thousands of Montana minimum wage earners will get a modest pay raise on Jan. 1, 2008. No legislative session will be required — instead, an automatic adjustment will take place that reflects the increased cost of living.
It’s that simple.
During the election campaign, many opponents pointed to the automatic adjustments as the reason the Montana minimum wage increase should be opposed. They argued that annual increases tied to a cost-of-living index would result in run-away increases based on out-of-state economic conditions.
Let’s look at the facts. The economic measure used to determine the January increase in the minimum wage, the Con-sumer Price Index, increased by 1.97 percent over the year. If you are like me, you just nodded your head and thought, “Sounds reasonable, maybe even a little low.” Where you sit is often where you stand, and policy makers could argue until 2009 and beyond as to whether a 1.97-percent increase is too little or too much. That argument is no longer necessary. By providing for an annual adjustment to the minimum wage, voters removed politics from the equation and replaced it with common sense.
Click here to read more of Bullock’s guest opinion
Bullock Goes Green: Puchases TerraPass to Offset Carbon Emissions from Travel
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A marathon runner, Steve has been making his way through the state on his 56 County “Justice Tour”, running in communities in each of
“Getting to every county in a state as big as
Bullock’s “Road Tripper” TerraPass offsets 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide by using the cost of the pass to fund alternative energy projects such as wind power. According to TerraPass, purchases of the product have already helped eliminate 420 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
“This is a small gesture, but it’s an important one. We all need to do our part to be good stewards of the natural heritage that is so much a part of who we are as Montanans,” Bullock continued. “Every day the Attorney General and his colleagues on the Land Board look at issues that impact our natural heritage. If I’m elected, I’ll work to protect that heritage for future generations,” Bullock concluded.
More information about the TerraPass is available at www.terrapass.com.
Click here to listen to Steve talk about stewardship
Bullock brings campaign to Festival Days Fun Run
Havre Daily News, 9/17/07
Steve Bullock, Democratic candidate for Montana attorney general, was in Havre Saturday running in the Festival Days Fun Run/Walk as part of his Justice Tour of Montana — Bullock said he plans to visit with voters and run in every county in Montana before the June 2008 primary. “If you really want to represent the state of Montana you have to see the people,” he said after Saturday’s race, “and what better way than to run races and to get to talk to the people?”
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Guest Opinion: Standing Up for Workers Pays Off for Montana
Billings Gazette, Labor Day 9/3/07
This Labor Day has taken on special meaning for me. Last year I had the privilege of working as the director of Raise
The minimum wage increase gives us all reason to celebrate this Labor Day.
When he helped organize the first Labor Day parade in 1884, Peter J. McGuire, a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor described the goal of the day as celebrating those who “have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”
What great words, words from 123 years ago that in their simplicity and clarity provide us with a reminder about what Labor Day is all about. It is about the celebration of the labor that made and makes
Continue Reading (link to Billings Gazette article)
Visitors enjoy run, fun, sun in Big Sky Festival
Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 9/3/07
There wasn’t much of a crowd waiting for Steve Bullock of Helena when he crossed the finish line at the 5K Fun Run during the Mountain Fest at the Big Sky Ski Resort on Saturday, just a few resort staff and one reporter.
Bullock came in first of the 16 people who participated in the race, but given that it wasn’t competitive in nature, no one was really following it too closely. The most cheering he received was from his two young daughters, who came sprinting up to give him a hug.
It turned out the race wasn’t the only thing Bullock was running for.
Press Release: Bullock Kicks Off Justice Tour of Montana
June 5, 2007
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An avid runner, Bullock just competed in and completed his second Boston Marathon.
“I’m excited about our “Justice Tour” both because I think jogging is a heck of a lot of fun and the idea of a running tour, it’ll give me a great opportunity to really get out and find out what is going on in communities across our state” said Bullock.
Bullock’s Justice Tour of
Bullock will visit communities large and small with the intention of connecting with as many Montanans as possible. A
Next up for Bullock, the 2nd Annual Hamilton
Click here for more on Bullock’s Justice Tour Listen to Steve talk about the Justice Tour
Press Release: Bullock Files First Financial Report of the Year
April 4, 2007
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“I am honored and encouraged by this strong start,” Bullock said. In this most recent period that runs from
“This is a marathon, not a sprint and this is the kind of base we need to build at this stage of the race,” said Bullock, a marathon runner who will compete in his second Boston Marathon later this month.
A Montana native, Bullock has served as Montana’s Executive Assistant Attorney General, as Chief Legal Counsel to Montana’s Secretary of State, worked in private practice, and taught law as an Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University School of Law.
Continue reading (pdf) Listen to campaign manager Doug Mitchell’s reaction (wav)
Press Release: Bullock to Run for Attorney General
March 28, 2007
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“I am humbled by the support and encouragement I have gotten from people across
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In 2005, Bullock started Raise Montana and wrote and submitted I-151, the initiative to raise Montana’s minimum wage. One of the most successful initiatives in Montana history, the minimum wage initiative received 73% of the vote on election day, winning in every county and every legislative district in Montana.
Montana Minimum Wage Hike to be on November Ballot
New West, 7/13/06
“It was the union man taking (the petition) around union hall. It was the business man taking it to the office.”
That’s why Montanans have the chance to vote on a minimum wage increase this November, said Steve Bullock, director of the broad coalition Raise Montana that circulated the petition. “It was largely a volunteer effort.”
Initiative 151, which would amend Montana state law to bump up the minimum wage from $5.15 to the greater of either $6.15 per hour or the federal minimum wage, will be on November’s ballot after nearly 40,000 Montanans signed the petition in 43 legislative representative districts, easily surpassing the requirement of 22,308 signatures in 34 districts. The initiative also includes an annual cost of living adjustment.
The minimum wage has not increased since 1997 when it was upped from $4.75.
Bullock says that between now and November Raise Montana will be working to make sure the whole of the public understands the issue. “The (wages) are not going out of state,” he said. “It’ll be spent right on Main Street.”
A 2005 poll conducted by Montana State University-Billings and Lee Newspapers found that over 75 percent of Montanans favored increasing the state’s minimum wage by a dollar.
“This should help Montanans get the raise they deserve,” Bullock said.
Op-Ed: Time for a minimum wage hike
Helena IR, 4/19/06
The April tax filing deadline always offers a bit of a reality check. There it is, in black and white - a permanent record of what we earned last year. It is a reminder that we do not stay in Montana to get rich. We choose to live here, and we appreciate that it is not always easy to make ends meet.
As you reflect on your past year, I invite you to think about what it would be like if that bottom line was capped at around $10,000 a year. Because, for far too many hard working Montanans, a full day’s work still means living in poverty.
The current minimum wage of $5.15 an hour has not been changed since it was set by Congress in 1997. As a result, the minimum wage is now at its lowest point in real terms in its 50-year history.
A full-time employee earning $5.15 per hour brings home $10,712 a year — 31 percent less than the federal poverty level for a family of three.
Most minimum wage earners are not young kids; sixty-three percent of minimum wage earners in Montana are over age 20.
Nationally, 70 percent have at least a high school degree, with almost a third of minimum wage earners having some college or advanced professional training.
Seventeen other states and the District of Columbia have already raised their minimum wage rates, representing some 45 percent of the American workforce. It is time for Montanans to get a raise.