þ Hiring state senators a troubling move

The recent ruckus over the hiring of two state senators for temporary jobs in state government may seem trivial, but there is an important issue at play one raised repeatedly by Gov. Brian Schweitzer himself.

It s all about perception and the appearance of propriety.

Those were the governor s stated reasons for proposing ethics reforms for the Montana Legislature last year, and the driving motive behind the ballot initiative he is advancing this year to prohibit state officials and legislators from becoming lobbyists within 24 months after leaving their positions.

It doesn t seem proper, and it just doesn t look right, for folks to trade in their official state status for an instant job advocating the positions of special interests, the governor reasons.

Well, Republican lawmakers have recently pointed out that the governor s concern falls short of addressing more immediate conflicts of interest the appointment of senators to temporary, unadvertised jobs.

State Sen. Mike Cooney, D-Helena, was hired for an unadvertised $72,451 job in the Department of Labor.

Then Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, R-Glasgow, was hired for a temporary $43,033 job as a management analyst for the state Revenue Department. Kitzenberg is viewed as a Democratic supporter in the Senate, often supporting school funding and tax increases that the Republican caucus opposes.

So the hirings automatically raised questions among Republican critics one suggested outright that the hirings amount to payoffs to lawmakers that the governor may owe favors to.

We don t know if that s the case at all. But even if it s entirely untrue, it just doesn t look right.

If then-Gov. Judy Martz had hired Sen. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, to the Department of Revenue while he was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, there would be wails of righteous protest and the Montana media (us included) cracking the whip.

Schweitzer badly misses the point in defending the qualifications of the two senators to carry out their new jobs.

Legislators are supposed to be overseeing government rather than be its dependents. True enough, teachers and other state employees have long served in the Legislature. But getting hired by a state agency when you re a sitting lawmaker especially an unadvertised position puts off a stench a little worse than the odor caused by a retired legislator getting hired as a lobbyist.

If the governor and other state officials want ethics reform, they should address the more immediate conflicts first.