This from the GOP E-brief: "In a letter to Governor Martz this week, State Auditor John Morrison requested that the $1 million fine he collected from a recent lawsuit be directed into the Children’s Health Insurance Program. That letter was then purposely leaked to the press. The whole situation reeks of the worst kind of politics. Governor Martz has no legal authority to spend the money, and Morrison, a lawyer himself, likely knew it. This sort of blatant dishonesty by a public official would garner front-page newspaper headlines anywhere else but Montana."

Hey, well, it made the front page of a blog.

UPDATE: Here' s the letter that upset Republicans:

Dear Governor Martz:

I wrote you on July 22nd to ask that you invest $3 million of the Medicaid savings in the Children’s Health Insurance Program. You declined citing the uncertain costs of fires.

Since that time you have taken action to provide funds for children on the CHIP waiting list. I applaud you for that action. But, our most recent information says that there is more than $25M of federal funds still available for the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Montana.

Today I am bringing you a check for $1 million dollars. It is the result of a fine in an enforcement action. It is general fund revenue that was not anticipated in any revenue estimate.

I am again asking you to expand CHIP. Investing $1M of general fund in CHIP will bring $4M of federal matching funds already available for Montana. It will allow us to insure approximately 3,000 additional children. Providing health coverage to Montana’s children should be one of our top priorities. Now that unanticipated funds are available, I urge you to act.

Reducing the number of uninsured Montanans is one of the most important things we can do to improve Montana’s economy.

Providing health insurance coverage for more Montanans will reduce the cost of insurance for those already insured. When one of the 33,000 uninsured kids in Montana gets injured or sick and their parents can’t pay the bills for the emergency room or doctor’s office, the costs are shifted to others through higher provider fees and higher insurance premiums. The uninsured often delay medical care until a condition is more serious … and more costly. That is bad public policy and bad economic policy. Providing more CHIP coverage would reduce our cost-shifting problem.

I hope we can work together to use these new funds to extend health insurance to more Montana kids.

Sincerely yours,



JOHN MORRISON
State Auditor

Doesn't sound too blatantly dishonest, does it?