Transparency needed on slush fund account

Serving 16 years in the Montana Legislature taught me much about the dos and don’ts of crafting a state budget. Legislators are charged with deciding how to use hard-earned Montana taxpayer dollars to make government work for the people. It was our job as legislators — Republicans and Democrats,  rural and urban —  to balance the state’s budget and ensure that every penny of Montanans’ tax dollars was wisely spent to provide needed services to improve our state.  

We faced tough decisions to balance the pressing, sometimes competing needs while ensuring efficiency and serving the people. And, like all good farmers, we made sure to keep grain in the bin just in case we had a rainy day and faced an economic turndown. In my opinion, our legislative responsibility was accountability to our folks back home and letting them know how taxpayer monies were spent. 

But just recently we learned that Gov. Greg Gianforte has set up — off the books and out of the public’s eye — what could be considered his own personal spending account by skimming interest off of federal dollars (ARPA) that are meant to help build our state. A newspaper headline read: “Governor’s office controls an unrestricted interest fund worth $86 million, and counting.” With no public or legislative oversight, the Governor’s Office decides how to spend interest from federal dollars on what may be his pet projects.  

Rep. Terry Falk, a Kalispell Republican who chairs the General Government Joint Appropriations Subcommittee, called the interest fund “inappropriate” and “concerning.” 

The rules of the game seem pretty simple to me — if you use public taxpayer money, you let the public and their elected representatives know when and how you’re going to use it. That’s called transparency and accountability, and ensures that the money is well spent — and if it should be spent at all or sent back to taxpayers. 

Let’s not forget that federal dollars are taxes paid by Montanans and everyone else across the United States. And all governors have to play by the same rules when accepting federal dollars–including the ARPA dollars, which were intended to jumpstart the economy post-pandemic.  

However, it seems that Gianforte may be playing by a different set of rules and making decisions without public and/or  legislative oversight.  

I’ve been involved in public policy and politics for a long time and have never seen anything so brazen. Setting politics aside, I’m troubled that the Governor’s Office is using the interest generated by taxpayer money to create a fund with no oversight. As a former legislator, I cannot imagine a governor hoarding almost $100 million of the public’s money when Montana has pressing needs. 

It’s time to hold our governor and his administration accountable — either give the money back to taxpayers or listen to the public and spend it to truly help Montanans. It’s that simple. It’s our money. And these elected officials work for us. 

Kim Gillan served in the Montana Legislature from 1996 to 2012. Gillan lives in Red Lodge.