It looks like Governor Brian Schweitzer, who is running for reelection this year, may have a chink in his armor.
The Montana GOP has filed a complaint with Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices contending that Gov. Schweitzer violated MCA § 2-2-121(4) by doing a Public Service Announcement for the Montana Department of Agriculture after he filed for reelection.
MCA § 2-2-121(4) states:
A candidate, as defined in 13-1-101(6)(a), may not use or permit the use of state funds for any advertisement or public service announcement in a newspaper, on radio, or on television that contains the candidate's name, picture, or voice except in the case of a state or national emergency and then only if the announcement is reasonably necessary to the candidate's official functions.
It appears, Schweitzer’s Public Service Announcements (PSAs) were sent to radio stations after he filed for reelection. The Montana GOP seems to have the information to prove it, too. It could be expensive if the Governor is found guilty of violating this state law.
PSAs are a commonly used tool by elected officials to keep their name in the public’s eye between elections. They just can’t do them after they file for reelection.
In this very brief Associated Press story this afternoon, the Governor says the complaint is “without merit.” It will be interesting to see how the Commissioner of Political Practices handles the complaint, hopefully before December.
Apparently, Schweitzer signed the bill into law back in 2005.
3 comments:
This will be very interesting to watch in the Lee newspapers. I'm guessing if they don't cover it too heavily tomorrow, there may be some merit. Good post.
Time for political jeopardy:
A: Bob Brown
Q: The politican who used over $150,000 in federal HAVA funds to purchase media when he was a candidate for Governor?
A: Zero
Q: The amount of taxpayer money spent to purchase Governor Schweitzer's PSA in support of agriculture?
A: Priceless
Q: What are right wing blogger?
Wild Bill – you are a funny person. We’ll see if the Governor broke any rules.
State government resources were used (government computers, e-mail, etc.). A state government employee (Ron Zeller) was used. So taxpayer money was used.
The Billings Gazette wrote, Ron “Zellar said Fred Lark of KXLO Radio in Lewistown requested the PSA. After writing the script, Zellar said he gave it to Agriculture Director Ron de Yong, who asked the governor's office if Schweitzer wanted to record it. Zellar said Schweitzer recorded the ad in early March, and he sent it to Lark about March 7.”
Bob Brown? The law was changed because of him and O’Keefe.
Thanks for stopping by. I like jeopardy! It is priceless!
-Jack
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