Maybe I’ve lived in Helena too long (20 years last month), but somehow the idea of partisan connections leading to a cushy state job just doesn’t shock me. It’s always been about paychecks anyhow, and even more so in this lousy economy.

So when it came to light that nine legislators of the Democratic persuasion have been on the state payroll during this Democratic administration, excuse me for not keeling over from surprise. If those per-diem types (plus expenses) can also get a good day job at good pay with good benefits, they’re probably going to unless it’s expressly forbidden.

But the cushy job wasn’t even posted, or was only posted for a nanosecond? Nobody on the outside had a chance? Welcome to the world. People in state government sometimes craft job descriptions to fit certain candidates and exclude others, and those doing the hiring sometimes hire a friend just so that person’s retirement can be padded by additional, high-level income.

That isn’t to say it’s right or just or honest or ethical. But it is reality, and it’s the way things work in Helena and in most places across the country, especially in government.

The most recent state legislator hired is State Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, who just got a job paying $57,000 at the state auditor’s office. She’ll be a policy adviser working on health-care issues.

I know Sen. Kaufmann enough to say hello to, and I’m pretty sure she feels stung by the “double-dipping” criticism being leveled. That perception stems from an e-mail she sent out last week explaining the situation and asking recipients for their views.

“Montana has a citizen legislature,” she wrote. “Legislating is not meant to be a profession and it doesn’t pay like one. If we legislators aren’t independently wealthy or getting retirement income, we need jobs like most everyone else.”

The senator pointed out that in 20 states, there are no restrictions on public employment, and that in seven, double-dipping is not allowed. In most states prohibiting public employment, she noted that salaries for legislators range from $28,000 to 116,000 per year.

According to a Dec. 3 Associated Press article, Montana ethics rules require legislators and other public officials who hold two public-sector jobs to report income received by those jobs to make sure they aren’t paid twice for the same hours. This “multiple public employment disclosure statement” is supposed to be filed annually.

The AP checked and found that only two legislators filed these required statements last year. One was State Sen. Jesse Laslovich, D-Anaconda, who works for Attorney General Steve Bullock, and the other was State Rep. Cynthia Hiner, D-Deer Lodge. The rest told the AP they didn’t know about the requirement. Montana lawmakers make $83 per day for the session (which runs for 90 days every other year) and, depending on interim committee work, typically earn between $5,000 and $10,000 per year for their public service. Those making a lot more than that at their regular job usually have to take leaves of absence or other time off, thereby reducing their income, Sen. Kaufmann stated.

Finally, she described a tough six-month work search after being laid off from her nonprofit job in Helena and finally getting the position with the auditor’s office after a “rigorous interview process.”

“For a person with my skills, there were a few jobs outside state government, but not very many,” she wrote. “The press apparently believes I should have been prevented from competing for over three-quarters of all the jobs I was most qualified for just because I’m a legislator. Public employees are not second-class citizens who check their right to participate in government at the door.”

Should legislators be prohibited from being hired or appointed to state government jobs that may or may not conflict with their public service? If so, should we go back to the time when lawmakers had to be wealthy and not have to work and/or had flexible jobs that allowed them to serve when necessary? And, is cronyism in state government really a partisan matter or does hiring favoritism run through both major political parties?

Honeymoon over

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has had a relatively long political honeymoon. He’s been in office nearly three years of a six-year term, and the inevitable discouraging words haven’t exactly been flying. That is, not until fairly recently.

I happened to notice that the junior senator was in Helena on Nov. 24 for a so-called “listening tour” about the economy, but local press apparently hadn’t been notified. I emailed Sen. Tester’s media folks about why that was and heard nothing back, which is unusual.

Then the Helena daily ran an editorial Sunday with this headline: “Tester’s ears closed on listening tour,” bemoaning the fact that they hadn’t been informed about the meeting and that the audience appeared to be hand-picked instead of just the “ordinary” public. In fact, it sounds like the senator’s office didn’t want to notify regular people beforehand.

“It is a far cry from what we’ve come to expect from Tester or any member of our congressional delegation, and we’re not thrilled,” the editorial stated.

It’s understandable to not want hecklers at a political “listening tour,” but that risk comes with the territory. The general public pays Sen. Tester’s salary and expenses and those of his staff members, and the public has a right to be fully informed of what he’s doing and allowed to participate whenever possible.

Talking turkey

If your holiday plans involve time with family members of differing political persuasions (and whose won’t?), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has something you might need. It’s a free “Home for the Holidays Cribsheet” to help with talking points when Uncle Fred or Aunt Louise makes goofy comments about “death panels” or claims that “global warming doesn’t exist since it’s been so cold,” and you start choking on the Christmas goose.

“We’ll give you the arguments and the numbers to back them up in a format that’s easy to refer to under the tablecloth or during a well-earned bathroom break,” the DSCC helpfully offers. For a copy, see https://secure.democratsenators.org/o/4/images/holiday_tips.pdf. (I searched for a comparable Republican offering, but haven’t found one - yet.)

Quotes of the week

“I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism. It is a recognition of history: the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.”
– President Barack Obama, in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 10.

“To his credit, in his acceptance address, President Barack Obama addressed several of the ironies involved in his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with humility, humor and a thoughtful disquisition on the delicate relationship among conflict, war, fanaticism and peace. Although he made the best of the situation, there was still something ironic about a head of state involved in two wars, one of which he had chosen to escalate a scant nine days earlier, accepting a prize ostensibly designed to honor peacemakers.”
– Orange County (Calif.) Register editorial, Dec. 11.