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In an interview with former Representative Ron Marshall, who recently represented House District 87, which encompasses Victor and Pinesdale, MT, a range of corruption issues was revealed. These issues exposed shortcomings in Montana’s state government and its failure to uphold ideal democratic processes.

Many of the articles dealing with Representative Marshall’s resignation focus on House Bill 525, but that is only one small piece of the puzzle. Marshall seems to have undergone a far broader awakening to the corruption rampant in the Montana state government, with H.B. 525 acting merely as the catalyst. He states, “Things aren’t what they appear. It’s all smoke and mirrors at the capitol, and some of those speeches you see on the House floor are canned, and you can tell when you see things like a person crying over a water pipe.”

One of the issues that Marshall indicated is that lobbyists have too much say in our state government, drowning out the voices of the citizens and unduly influencing the vote on various bills. With H.B. 525, he points out that the bill received extensive support from the tobacco industry at the expense of citizens. Still, his concern is that lobbyists have the upper hand regarding how much access they have to legislators. “If people really understood – calling or emailing your representatives – good luck. And canned e-mails (form e-mails, pre-created) – legislators don’t read those. And the messages that they get on their desks are very limited.” Access is an issue, with many citizens unable to be at the capitol for the extended lengths of time that lobbyists can, and unable to draw the ear of legislators at a dinner, the way lobbyists can. “We can’t afford to take a whole committee out to a steak dinner.” But lobbyists often can and do. Marshall explains, “You are outgunned from the moment you walk in the door. Lobbyists are there 24-7.”

Marshall previously stated, “The people need to understand that if you want your voice heard up here, you get rid of all these lobbyists. Get rid of them all because it’s the absolute worst thing that could happen to a citizen government.” But lobbyists aren’t the only ones unduly influencing Montana’s state government – the governor has sway over bills even before they reach his desk. Marshall states that sometimes he’s been told, “You have to talk to the second floor” – the second floor is the governor’s office. “If the second floor doesn’t want something, it’ll go to Appropriations and die a slow death.” He explains that if a person looks at the governor’s budget before the legislative session, it is relatively easy to determine what bills will pass or fail based on that.

In addition to legislators facing pressure from lobbyists and the governor, however, there is also the leadership of the House and Senate that they must contend with, and the conditions are not always fair. Marshall explains that legislators are told, “Vote how you want” and then once they do, they start getting yelled at. More troubling, is how Marshall revealed that if you begin “making waves” at the capitol or voting in ways disliked by the leadership, there is often bullying involved. “If they don’t like you or want to go after you, they threaten you with an ethics complaint.” Marshall reveals that this happened to him personally, as an allegation came to him, stating that five representatives supposedly intended to file an ethics complaint against him. However, when he asked for the names of the representatives, those were not given to him, so there was no way even to verify if there was a complaint. Marshall stated, “If there’s no ethics complaint and you can’t tell me who, then what are we even talking about?”

Representative Marshall was a member of the Freedom Caucus and explained that some individuals go into this form of public service for altruistic reasons and genuinely want to help their fellow citizens. Then they quickly find out what they’ve gotten themselves into. He states that what matters to legislators all too often is power, position, and political status. An example of that is the Appropriations Committee, which can often pass items that are not in the governor’s budget – thus they have a level of power and control that makes them answerable to no one. “I’ve seen people go into Appropriations, and then I don’t recognize them anymore,” he explains. As the adage goes, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’

Most shocking of all, Marshall reveals that no matter how ardently a citizen petitions their legislators regarding a bill, it will not matter because “the outcome is already pre-determined”—and determined by forces outside of that citizen’s control.

So, what is to be done?

Ron Marshall suggests that citizens start by addressing the issue of lobbyists. “If the citizens truly want to take their government back, they need to pack that capitol building and run those lobbyists out on a rail.” He also suggests that for citizens who want to inquire further into bills they care about, that they request a Junque File (pronounced “junk” like a junk drawer) – which explains who the drafter of the bill was, who the drafter communicated with, etc. and in this way, citizens can really get an idea of who is influencing the vote, when it comes to that piece of legislation.

The sheer volume of corruption seems overwhelming, which is why it is up to the citizens of the State of Montana to hold their elected leaders accountable and use every resource they have.