Eliminating political practices office is the wrong move

The office of the Commissioner of Political Practices is a hot topic at the Montana Legislature. Montana has had 11 commissioners of political practices since 1975, when the current model for the office was created by a group charged with de-politicizing the COPP. Ask anyone who has run for office in Montana about the services they received from the office of Political Practices, and every one of them will say that the office and its staff are knowledgeable and helpful to an extreme.

When legislative candidates call to ask how to fill out a campaign finance report, COPP staff patiently walk them through the process and coach them until they get everything right. Despite this record of excellent customer service, COPP has been a political football since 2010 when 14 Republican office seekers were accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions from an out-of-state group. Civil cases were brought against nine of the 14 Montana candidates who were accused of illegal campaign activities.

The current commissioner of Political Practices, Jonathan Motl, has the job of monitoring and enforcing campaign practices and financial disclosure of statewide and district candidates, elected state officials and state department directors. The commissioner investigates legitimate complaints that arise concerning any of these individuals. Republicans claim that Motl has unfairly singled out their party’s candidates for scrutiny, but the list of complaints handled during Motl’s tenure shows a mix of Democratic and Republican complaints. All the investigations that are completed are posted on the COPP website, including those that resulted in fines. Except for the 2010 cases, the fines are not high and the sanctions mild. However, heavy fines did occur in the resolution of the charges of illegal coordination and unreported contributions.

Under Commissioner Motl’s leadership, he and his staff have modernized the office’s recordkeeping and made information more accessible to the public by implementing online filing of reports and a well-organized system for handling complaints in a timely manner. Since 2013 the commissioner has issued 144 decisions and eliminated the long-standing backlog of cases.

So what is there to complain about? Commissioner Motl and his staff of seven have handled their duties in an independent, transparent and nonpartisan manner. They have guided candidates and political donors through the post-Citizens United era when out-of-state groups and political committees of all stripes have flooded Montana elections with more money than has ever been seen in the past. This inflow of outside money must have some oversight and transparency here in-state, and that is why the commissioner’s office is so important.

Now Rep. Derek Skees, R-Kalispell, wants to eliminate the COPP office and divide the duties between the secretary of state (record-keeping) and the attorney general (enforcement). This would put campaign ethics under the purview of partisan elected offices, and this move would be a step backward to the freewheeling days when there was no independent scrutiny of elections and political practices in Montana, and backroom deals allowed wealthy donors the freedom to influence elections to their advantage.

Commissioner Motl’s term is ending, and he is ineligible for another term. His successor must be someone who builds on the solid foundation that Motl and his staff have created, but there must be a successor. Rather than gutting the office, it’s time to initiate the bi-partisan, multi-step process to select another independent person for the job.

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Rep. Kathy Kelker, Democrat, represents House District 47 in Billings.