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Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP) is challenged in tracking lobbyists’ spending, as legislative auditors uncovered missing key details in reported lobbying activities. Reports often lacked critical information such as targeted bills, lobbyists’ addresses, and expenditure data, all required by law.
During a recent Legislative Audit Committee session, Deputy Auditor Christiane Rudmann cited overwhelming workloads as the reason for the office’s focus on meeting filing deadlines over content verification. The COPP staff prioritizes timeliness due to resource constraints, which hampers their ability to ensure the completeness of lobbying reports.
Audit recommendations propose shifting to electronic-only reports, and suggest monthly submissions during legislative sessions and quarterly reports otherwise, replacing the current biannual system. This change aims to address discrepancies between hard copies and digital records, which currently force public users to search two separate databases.
Commissioner Chris Gallus expressed agreement with these recommendations but emphasized the need for additional staff to implement them. The COPP, managing compliance and processing reports for over 450 lobbying entities, currently operates with six employees.
Another significant recommendation involves eliminating the $5,000 expense threshold that permits certain lobbying activities to remain unreported. This change would ensure full transparency, as illustrated by Rudmann with hypothetical scenarios where some activities fall below the current threshold.
Rep. Fiona Nave, R-Columbus, raised concerns about prioritizing timely submissions over accuracy, suggesting that incomplete reports lack utility. Gallus concurred, suggesting automated systems could prompt lobbyists to complete missing information, potentially improving report accuracy and reliability.
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