When news broke that Conrad Republican Rep. Llew Jones used his position in the Legislature to carve out a grant of nearly half a million dollars in federal stimulus spending – and then organized a family business to successfully apply for the funds shortly afterward – the reaction of Montana elected officials was slightly unusual.
Some Democrats defended Jones.
“Rep. Jones is one of the 10 or 15 hardest working legislators in Helena,” Rep. Cheryl Steenson, D-Kalispell, wrote in a statement on the Flathead Beacon website. “He inquired about the possible conflict of interest, and was given a clear signal that there would be no legal issues to arise from his private business taking part in applying for state grants.”
“I don’t know what, really, to make of it,” Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, said. “I’m sure other lawmakers have contracts.”
“I like Llew, he’s a good guy,” Jopek added. “Llew’s willing to work across the aisle to get some stuff done.”
Many Republicans, meanwhile, took a harsher tone.
“I think it should have been more transparent than it was,” Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, said. “The risk is too great for a loss of confidence in the government.”
“Legislators need to hold ourselves to a very high standard and this doesn’t appear to pass the smell test,” Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, said. “He’s going to face a very skeptical caucus. We don’t like it.”
Matt Gouras of the Associated Press reported May 5 on e-mails revealing Jones was contemplating starting a business to get a state grant for a biomass energy study, while at the same time using his seat on the House Appropriations Committee last March to propose an amendment allocating $475,000 for that very study. The business, Porter Bench Energy, successfully won $300,000 for the study through a competitive bid run by the state Department of Commerce.
Those e-mails, however, also reveal Jones sought to find out from the commissioner of political practices and a legislative staff attorney whether there was any conflict in launching a company to seek a state grant, and was told there wasn’t.
Rep. Chas Vincent, a Libby Republican running for the Senate District 1 seat in Lincoln County, works for one of the businesses hired as a subcontractor on the grant and has defended the deal.
House Republican Leader Scott Sales of Bozeman blasted the deal, but beyond some tough rhetoric, it’s unclear what the repercussions might be. Jones is running unopposed for the open state senate seat in his district, so a return to the Legislature, in an arguably more powerful position than he held previously, seems imminent.
Jones broke no laws or ethics rules, yet the deal still makes some of his legislative colleagues uncomfortable due to its appearance of enriching oneself through an elected position, particularly at a time when many voters are frustrated with government.
“Montana is so small that if you’re in business or doing something where there’s going to be a conflict of interest, it needs to be transparent,” Zinke said. “You need to declare that upfront.”
Yet Steenson and others interviewed point out that serving in the Legislature is a part-time job. Many lawmakers are business people affected by regulations they may craft, or work for public agencies whose funding is determined by the Legislature – making inherent conflicts of interest sometimes difficult to avoid.
“A working Legislature actually creates a better Legislature, but it’s hard to separate yourself sometimes,” Steenson said. “Unless we only elected unemployed people who have just moved to Montana, it’s difficult not to have some type of connection.”
Steenson is a teacher, and worked on education funding during the Legislature, something she doesn’t see as being too far off from Jones, whose focus is energy development, also having business in that field.
“It makes sense to me that he would have potential business in this field,” Steenson said. “It’s the same as me carrying education bills; it’s something I’m passionate about.”
But Tutvedt disagrees, saying Jones went one step further, “because Llew put the (ear)mark in there and then his company bid right afterwards, people have to be smarter and hold themselves to a higher standard.”
“I think Llew just did something dumb, I don’t think he’s crooked,” Tutvedt added.
Jopek said the incident should spur lawmakers to craft clearer ethics rules for the 2011 session on potential conflicts of interest as well as spending by lobbyists. But he’s skeptical new ethics rules will come to pass.
As for Jones, who already butts heads with some members of his own party for joining Democrats on controversial votes in past sessions, Zinke believes he will do fine in the Senate.
“I don’t think it’ll make it tough for him,” Zinke said, “but I’m hoping he got the message and I’m sure he did, because no one likes to be in newsprint for anything less than good things.”