A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

30 November 2016

Sen. Scott Sales wants to eliminate the office of Lt. Governor

Montana Senate President Scott Sales (R-Bozeman) has asked for a bill (LC0545) for a “Constitutional amendment to eliminate Lt. Governor’s office.” So far, there’s no draft language to review.

That Sales, or someone, would seek to eliminate the office of Lt. Governor is no surprise. In late 2015, former Montana Secretary of State Bob Brown argued:

Lieutenant governors should serve in a real job. Many do, including in the states of Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Alaska and Arizona. Whether called secretary of state or lieutenant governor, one person is elected to perform the defined duties of secretary of state.

We should do the same thing. Montana taxpayers will be served by eliminating a useless and troublesome office and benefitted by giving a capable person a real job to do.

This reform can be accomplished only by amending our state constitution. That can happen by a citizen’s initiative in the 2016 general election or by a referendum to the people from the 2017 Legislature, voted on in the election of 2018. Let’s recognize it’s broke, and let’s fix it.

In Oregon, the Secretary of State becomes Governor when the office of Governor becomes vacant.

Brown’s proposal solves the problem of a Lt. Governor’s becoming bored by having little to do besides cut ribbons and attend funerals. But it does not necessarily solve the problem of ensuring that the voters’ choice of a political party is honored if the office of governor becomes vacant.

In fact, neither does Montana’s current constitution. When he selected Republican John Bohlinger as his Lt. Governor, Democrat Brian Schweitzer put the state at risk of being governed by a Republican if he could not finish his term.

That’s a vital consideration. When we elect a governor, we chose a political party as well as a person. A well thought out plan of succession ensures that when the saddle become empty, the rider is replaced but the horse is retained.

In my judgment, whatever Sales proposes should ensure that the person first in line to succeed the governor is a member of the same political party as the governor.