Gov. Marc Racicot

About

MARC RACICOT (pronounced ROS-ko) was born in Thompson Falls, Montana, and spent most of his childhood in Libby. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1970 from Carroll College in Helena, where he served as student body president and set records in basketball that still stand. He earned a law degree in 1973 from the University of Montana School of Law. Following graduation, he entered the U.S. Army and served in West Germany as an Army prosecutor in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. As a captain, he became the chief prosecutor for the largest U.S. military jurisdiction in Europe. He returned to the United States in 1976, taking a position as deputy county attorney for Missoula County. In 1977 he became assistant attorney general and Montana’s first special prosecutor. He was elected attorney general in 1988 and Governor in 1992. In 1996 Governor Racicot was reelected with 80 percent of the vote, the largest margin in state history. Some of the successes under Governor Racicot’s leadership include reforming a troubled state workers’ compensation system, and initiating sweeping welfare reform, reducing welfare caseloads by more than 30 percent. After working with the legislature to eliminate a $200 million deficit in 1993, the Racicot administration helped produce a $22.4 million budget surplus in 1995, which was returned to Montana taxpayers at the Governor’s insistence. The Governor and the 1997 legislature also created tax relief totaling almost $70 million. In December 1997, he became chairman of the board of directors of Jobs for America’s Graduates, a program that successfully targets at-risk youth. Governor Racicot received a presidential appointment in 2000 to serve as a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

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