Shine a light on the 'dark money'

Once again, Montanans are seeing encouraging cooperation between the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock on significant legislation to bring some sunlight to the state’s dark campaign finance picture.

Specifically, Bullock has been working with Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, and Sen. Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo, on the Transparency, Reporting and Accountability in Campaigns and Elections (TRACE) Act. They rightly assert that most Montanans are fed up with the way third-party organizations have influenced recent elections through advertising paid for with money from undisclosed donors.

As many Republican and Democratic candidates will attest, this practice has had the effect of distorting campaigns with out-of-the-blue characterizations of candidates and their positions. The sheer amount of money entering races has made it difficult for candidates to defend themselves.

And that’s why we previously endorsed legislation from Rep. Scott Reichner, R-Bigfork, that would increase the legal contribution limits to candidates in order to enable them, rather than secret donors, to have the most influence in a race. But now there is the TRACE Act, which might also serve that purpose well.

Save ‘Insure Montana’

Anxiety is brewing among many small businesses in Montana, because a popular program called Insure Montana is set to expire on Jan. 1, 2014, when a new federal health insurance exchange is supposed to be ready to allow people to shop for their insurance.

So is this what the Congressional Budget Office meant with its recent forecast that Obamacare will cause 7 million people to lose their health insurance?

We seem to recall that back in 2009, when the Affordable Care Act was being pitched, one of President Obama’s selling points was, “You get to keep the health insurance you have.”

That’s obviously not the case. In his budget proposal for the next biennium, former Gov. Brian Schweitzer eliminated funding for Insure Montana because insurance premium subsidies and tax credits will be available from the new federal insurance exchange after next Jan. 1. The tax credits will only be available to employers who purchase through the insurance shopping exchange.

People can surely spin this in a way that says the state put itself on a course to end Insure Montana, not the federal government. But Obamacare is clearly the catalyst.

Insure Montana, a program that is partly paid for with tobacco tax revenue, is targeted at businesses with fewer than 10 employees. It currently provides insurance to about 1,500 businesses and 8,000 people.

Why should those businesses and people give up insurance they by and large appear satisfied with for the sake of a federal program that was mainly directed at covering the uninsured.

Obamacare was also supposed to curb rising health-care costs and insurance premiums, but so far that doesn’t appear to be the case.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the president frequently claimed that family insurance premiums would be $2,500 lower by the end of his first term, but those costs are actually $3,000 higher.

Meanwhile, Insure Montana has reportedly been able to sustain lower-than-average rate increases.

State Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen is on board with saving the program and protecting the 8,000 people it insures, and we sincerely hope she can convince the Legislature and governor to join her.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.