Montana would love a head start

Serving on interim committees is a lot of work but also solves many problems during the off year, saving time during the regular session.

I served on the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Committee (SAVA) when I was a state representative. I watched the SAVA committee meeting yesterday, which was chaired by Sen. Dee Brown, R-Coram. You, too, can watch the committee hearing online at www.leg.mt.gov. Click on “Interim” then watch the eight hour meeting, or go directly to 7:34 (7 hours and 34 minutes) to watch a discussion of an idea that would be of great benefit to Montana and our congressional delegation.

The idea came up late in the afternoon when Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch came before the committee to answer a couple of questions regarding this month’s elections. The crash of the website on election night was disturbing to many of us, but the other question was an even bigger one.

Why didn’t the Secretary of State’s office set up a special election with the general election to have the voters weigh in on a huge question about the U.S. Senate seat left open when Sen. Max Baucus resigned.

Since the temporary appointment to fill the vacancy until the election (MCA 13-25-202) was finished at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, why wasn’t there wording on the ballot to appoint the winner of the general election to finish out the Baucus term?

The Secretary of State’s lack of special election wording will keep newly-elected Sen. Steve Daines out of the position until other candidates take office in January. With our small delegation, Montana would benefit with a head start and possibly better committee assignments.

Actually, former Montana Gov. Tom Judge recognized this situation in a similar election when Max Baucus won the general election in 1978. Judge had appointed Sen. Paul Hatfield, who lost in the primary to Baucus. Hatfield then submitted his resignation, which allowed Judge to fill the brief vacancy with Baucus in the Senate seat. We know as Montanans that the Baucus’ seniority served us for several decades, including the chairmanship of the powerful Finance Committee.

Although our chief election officer, Linda McCulloch, did not recognize the benefit to Montana, I hope the sitting governor will do the right thing for Montana. By appointing Senator-elect Daines and Representative-elect Zinke right now, it will serve us well in 2014, just as the temporary appointment served us well in 1978.

Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, represents Senate District 5.