A state senator in Dec. unilaterally gave a public contract to a longtime colleague.
The Montana State News Bureau first reported that Republican Sen. Jason Ellsworth of Hamilton made the last-minute deal to give his business associate Bryce Eggleston a $170,000 contract. It directed Eggleston to monitor the progress of bills that pass the Legislature this year to regulate the judiciary.
Ellsworth used the last vestiges of his power as the former Senate President and chair of a special interim committee to create the contract at the end of December before both positions concluded on January 1. The contract drew money from the special committee’s allocated budget.
Monday morning, Ellsworth said he filed paperwork on behalf of Eggleston to cancel the contract. The senator said his colleague didn’t want to get tied up in partisan politics. Ellsworth called the criticism over the contract a “manufactured controversy.”
Another former Senate President, Jeff Essmann, said on the conservative radio show Montana Talks that Ellsworth should be expelled.
The Legislature has not taken any action against the senator.