Serving on interim committees is a lot of work but also solves many problems during the off year, saving time during the regular session. I served on the State Administration and Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SAVA) when I was a state representative. I watched the SAVA Committee meeting recently, which was chaired by Sen. Dee Brown. You, too, can watch the committee hearing from the state website: leg.mt.gov. Click on Interim, then watch the 8-hour meeting, or go directly to 7-hour, 34-minute mark to watch a discussion of an idea that would be of great benefit to Montana and our congressional delegation.
The idea came up late in the afternoon when Secretary of State Linda McCulloch came before the committee to answer a couple of questions regarding this month’s elections. The crash of the website on election night was disturbing to many of us, but the other question was an even bigger one. Why didn’t the secretary of state set up a special election with the general election to have the voters weigh in on a huge question: Since the temporary appointment to fill the vacancy until the election (state law 13-25-202) was finished at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, why wasn’t there wording on the ballot to appoint the winner of the general election to finish out the former Sen. Max Baucus’ term?
The secretary of state’s lack of special election wording will keep newly elected Steve Daines out of the Senate until other candidates take office in January. With our small delegation, Montana would benefit from a head start and possibly better committee assignments.
Actually, former Gov. Tom Judge recognized this situation in a similar election when Max Baucus won the general election in 1978. Judge had appointed Sen. Hatfield who lost in the primary to Baucus. Hatfield then submitted his resignation, which allowed Judge to fill the brief vacancy with Baucus in the Senate seat. We know as Montanans that Baucus’ seniority served us for several decades, including the chairmanship of the powerful Finance Committee.
Although our chief election officer Linda McCulloch did not recognize the benefit to Montana, I hope the sitting governor will do the right thing for Montana. By appointing Sen.-elect Daines and Rep.-elect Ryan Zinke right now, it will serve us well in 2014, just as the temporary appointment served us well in 1978.
Sen. Verdell Jackson
Kalispell