#MTGov Daily Rundown: Complaint Filed Over Bullock's Abuse of the State Plane

Ravalli County Resident Jason Ellsworth has filed a complaint against Steve's Bullock's campaign for its illegal use of the state plane for campaigning. The complaint was officially listed on the Commissioner of Political Practice’s website on Thursday. Ellsworth points out 16 different incidences where Bullock used the plane to fly to campaign events.

"Steve Bullock has repeatedly used the state airplane, King Air tail lumber NK28P, fly Steve Bullock to campaign fundraisers and rallies.

Steve Bullock's campaign has failed to reimburse the state for each flight, and, further, failed to reimburse the cost of the trips used for political events, on no less than 16 occasions all cited below." -Jason Ellsworth, COPP Complaint, Ellsworth v. Bullock

Ellsworth points out that previous reimbursements to the state are nowhere near the true cost of operating the plane and that many flights were not reimbursed at all.

Steve Bullock's most recent campaign reports show minimal reimbursement to the state without explanation of the events accounted for. The amount of reimbursement since July include 2 payments in previous finance reports for $2,964.25 and $1,155.56 or a total $4,119.81, a mere 13 percent of the cost owed the taxpayer. Flights between the period of July 28 to September 26 were not reimbursed. -Jason Ellsworth, COPP Complaint, Ellsworth v. Bullock

Bullock's behavior is illegal.

"This behavior is in clear violation of Mont. Code Ann 2-2-121-3 which states "a public officer or public employee may not use public time, facilities, equipment, supplies, personnel, or funds to solicit support for or opposition to any political committee, the nomination or election of any person to public office for the passage of a ballot issue." -Jason Ellsworth, COPP Complaint, Ellsworth v. Bullock

Governor Bullock has continued to use the taxpayer funded state plane to fly to and from campaign events, his latest campaign finance report has shown.

"Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s use of a state plane for campaigning continues, according to election finance reports in which his campaign paid the state $1,155 for airfare.

Campaign finance reports filed Monday by the Bullock Campaign with the Commissioner of Political Practices, didn’t go into detail about the expenses covered. 

But an invoice from the Office of the Governor included nine flights, for which the state requested Bullock’s campaign pay for pilot salaries and benefits associated with waiting for Bullock, a Democrat, to return from non-government events, such as fundraising. The invoice listed 15½ hours of pilot time, and the dates in which the hours were incurred." -Billings Gazette, 8/2/2016 

The governor's office REFUSED to disclose the details of the flights, such as where the plane was flown, or the official events or campaign events during those uses of the plane.

"The governor’s office didn’t disclose what, if any, official purpose the flight had, or where the government airplane was flown, or the campaign events for which the pilot’s shift was extended." -Billings Gazette, 8/2/2016

Governor Bullock was caught earlier this year abusing his state plane privileges again, as it emerged that he flew in the state plane to Missoula for a Paul McCartney concert.

“After a row over inappropriate uses of the state airplane, Montana Governor Steve Bullock is now being asked if that plane was used for personal enjoyment. Flight logs indicate that the state plane landed at Missoula International Airport at 4:03 P.M., just about an hour before the doors were open to the public at the Paul McCartney concert on August 5, 2014. The concert was possibly the highest profile music event in Montana’s history and many high-profile attendees were in the crowd, including Montana Governor Steve Bullock.”  -KGVO, 7/8/2016

Bullock's payment of $1,155 also raises questions about how the governor is calculating repayments, as legislators have stated that the cost of operating the plane is $1,650 for a single hour. Republican Party Chairman Jeff Essmann notes that the governor's controversial use of the plane to attend a rock concert in Missoula would alone cost more than $15,000.

"Chairman Jeff Essmann of the Montana Republican Party called on Governor Bullock today to fully reimburse taxpayers for using the State plane to attend the Paul McCartney concert at a cost of $15,255.00:

“While Bullock lived the high-life attending cocktail parties and enjoying the Paul McCartney concert, Montana taxpayers were stuck paying his tab,” said Chairman Jeff Essmann. “Now, it is illegal for Bullock to selectively choose which campaign flights to pay back, and it is illegal for Bullock to not pay the true value of his campaign travels. He’s abusing his power and his behavior runs contrary to the Montana values we expect to see in our elected officials.” -Montana GOP, 8/3/2016

The Billings Gazette editorial board hammered Governor Steve Bullock for his abuse of the state aircraft.

"Residents are right to question whether they're underwriting the campaigning costs of the governor. Many of the trips Bullock went on seemed contrived or PR stunts more than state legitimate business, which made the entire situation feel like he was gaming the system." -Billings Gazette, 9/1/2016

"But more recent reporting shows another raft of questionable trips, including one in which he tried convincing Montanans that seeing Sir Paul McCartney was the state's business and that McCartney had requested a special audience with Bullock.

Being caught again using the state plane either demonstrates arrogance or a tone-deafness about the issue. What's even more is that Bullock recently used the state plane to hop over to Deer Lodge, less than a 60-mile trip from Helena. We'd venture to guess it took longer to get the plane ready than it did to make the quick journey. We understand that the governor's time as the state's chief executive is valuable, but is it so precious that such a small time savings and large expense of a plane makes it pencil out? " -Billings Gazette, 9/1/2016

The Gazette also noted that Bullock's reimbursement of the state was a paltry amount given the true operating cost of the plane.

"Yet, when follow-up reporting was done, the reimbursement for these trips was anemic and represented a token of the expense of using the expensive state plane." -Billings Gazette, 9/1/2016