Page 10 - Flathead Beacon // 4.1.15

10 | APRIL 1, 2015 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM
Montana House Endorses Bill to Require Dark Money Disclosure
Facts
FIGURES
Numbers in the news
$367,696
Amount of a 2014 property tax bill for the owner of a mansion built on an island on Flathead Lake. The owner wanted the bill reduced by two- thirds. The Montana Tax Board denied the appeal.
$73.8
million
Amount in back taxes owed by Yellowstone Club founder Tim Blixseth, according Montana revenue officials. He plans to appeal the ruling.
4.3%
Montana’s unemployment rate in February, down 0.1 percentage points from a month prior.
7.5%
Flathead County’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate in February, down 0.3 percentage points from a month prior.
Kalispell Republican goes against GOP caucus to usher measure through
By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Beacon
Following two hours of debate, a bar- rage of failed amendments and yet anoth- er example of the intraparty rift among GOP lawmakers, the Montana House en- dorsed a bill to require so-called “dark money” groups to disclose donor sources and campaign spending.
House members voted 51-49 to en- dorse Senate Bill 289 while passing just one of 16 Republican amendments in a narrow vote that saw a coalition of all 41 Democrats and 10 moderate Republicans unite to endorse Senate Bill 289, spon- sored by Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip.
Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, de- fected from the ranks of Republican lead- ership and the majority of the caucus to argue for the measure, at several points holding up an illustration of marionette strings attached to the Capitol building to illustrate the powerful influence of out- side interest groups, and saying Montan- ans deserve to know the identity of “the hands on the puppet strings.”
Garner repeatedly stood up and re- sisted the Republican-introduced amend- ments to water down the measure, stand- ing firm even as he described it as a diffi- cult stance.
“This is not an easy thing to do, to stand up in front of my caucus today in disagreement with some of the people I have such great respect for. But I believe this is right. That is the legacy I want to leave, one of fairness, one of disclosure,” Garner said.
Senate Bill 289 aims to shed light on anonymous money that began flowing into elections after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The court held that
it is unconstitutional to prohibit corpora- tions from making political expenditures if the money is not given directly to a can- didate.
The measure would require newly de- fined groups to publicize reports on po- litical donations and expenditures if they spend money supporting or opposing can- didates or ballot issues.
House Minority Leader Chuck Hunter praised the efforts of Gov. Steve Bullock, for whom the bill is a top priority. Bullock actively promoted campaign finance dis- closure as the state attorney general and as governor teamed up with Ankney to pass the measure.
“In the four terms I have been here I think this rises to the level of importance the way few bills do,” Hunter said. “It’s about disclosure, pure and simple. It’s about letting folks know who is influenc- ing our government.”
“Ultimately it’s important to our de- mocracy because honesty and transpar- ency are important to our democracy,” he added.
Rep. Rob Cook, R-Conrad, was the lone lawmaker to offer a successful set of amendments, including reining in ads that resemble newspapers and allowing candi- dates to refrain from disclosing in-kind personal service contributions provided by a political party.
Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, tried adding 10 amendments and questioned whether the governor’s signature would only come if the bill came without amend- ments. Others said blasting the measure
to the floor was not an ideal process under which to pass a major bill.
Republican Rep. Wendy McKamey of Great Falls said the bill is one of the most important of the session but that she’d be voting against it.
“This is probably the most important thing we are going to be voting on,” she said. “To say it is a dark money bill, that is a boogie man term.”
The coalition of Democrats and the moderate Republicans also endured crit- icism from hardline conservatives be- cause they sent the bill to the House Busi- ness and Labor Committee instead of the House State Administration Commit- tee, where election bills are normally as- signed. Then last week, the same coalition blasted SB289 out of committee before it acted on it and sent the measure directly to the floor.
Republicans also criticized Bullock for bringing the bill while he raises “dark money” as the current chair of the Demo- cratic Governors Association, a national organization working to get more Demo- cratic governors elected. Bullock has said the DGA won’t spend any dark money to influence elections while he’s chair.
But Garner concluded by saying the bill would make Montana elections fair- er and more transparent and “provide a place full of light where darkness dare not tread.”
“The future of our elections are in our hands,” he said.
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“ULTIMATELY IT’S IMPORTANT TO OUR DEMOCRACY BECAUSE HONESTY AND TRANSPARENCY ARE IMPORTANT TO OUR DEMOCRACY.” Chuck Hunter
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