HELENA — The Montana Senate has reached an agreement to punish former Senate President Sen. Jason Ellsworth after an ethics investigation. It comes a week after senators initially deadlocked on whether to expel him from the Senate or censure him.
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The Montana Constitution gives the Senate the authority to “expel or punish a member for good cause” if two-thirds of senators agree.
On Tuesday, 44 out of 50 senators supported a motion that removes Ellsworth from all his committee assignments and bans him from the Senate floor for life – though he will still be able to vote remotely.
“I think this is appropriate,” said Senate Majority Leader Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, just before the vote. “These instances were very, very serious, and the Senate needs to respond accordingly.”
McGillvray brought the punishment motion. He said he had worked with leaders from both parties on finding language that could get the required two-thirds vote.
Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, was Senate president through the end of 2024. The Senate Ethics Committee investigated his approval of a contract with Bryce Eggleston, a longtime business associate, and his company Agile Analytics. The $170,000 contract called for Eggleston’s company to conduct an analysis of the outcomes from a slate of judicial reform bills Republican legislative leaders are prioritizing this session.
A Legislative Audit Division report said the proposed contract was originally split into two smaller contracts, and that it appeared that was an attempt to get around the rules for oversight on state contracts. Ellsworth has denied any wrongdoing.
While the Ethics Committee investigation focused specifically on whether Ellsworth violated ethical obligations by not disclosing his ties to Eggleston, McGillvray said his motion was based on more than just those findings.
“We're going all the way back, looking at a pattern of abuse that needs to be addressed by the Senate body,” he said.
Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, who chaired the Ethics Committee, again made a motion to expel Ellsworth.
“I guess I don't really see what has changed in the last week that would change my mind that expulsion is the most appropriate punishment,” he said.
But the expulsion motion fell well short of the two-thirds vote it needed, failing 25-25. 23 Republicans and two Democrats backed expulsion, while nine Republicans – including Ellsworth – and 16 Democrats opposed it.
“I just urge that we reject the expulsion motion and that we move to censure, which is a very black mark for our colleague – it'll be the saddest day of my ten years here, but I think that that is appropriate,” said Sen. Chris Pope, D-Bozeman.
In the end, all but four Republicans – including Ellsworth – and all but two Democrats backed the final punishment motion.
Ellsworth was on the Senate floor for last week’s votes, where he said he regretted any “appearance of impropriety” and that he would accept whatever discipline senators decided on. He was not on the floor on Tuesday.
Senate Republican leaders told reporters after the vote that they were disappointed they weren’t able to get two-thirds agreement on expulsion, but they felt this was the next best thing, to ensure there were some consequences.
“This is everything that the public in Montana does not like about politicians, and we didn't expel that from the system,” said Senate President Sen. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell.
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, told reporters most members of his caucus saw the final motion as appropriate punishment for Ellsworth.
“I think generally they thought it was fair,” he said. “It was farther than we had proposed last week, but pretty darn similar to what we had offered.”
The original censure motion from last week had called for Ellsworth to be barred from the floor only temporarily and to keep some of his committee assignments. The final motion not only removed him from all committees and permanently barred him from the Senate floor, but also directed him not to contact legislative staff or agency directors in person.
The disciplinary action against Ellsworth also goes farther than last year’s vote in the Montana House to bar Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, from the House floor for the rest of the session for her actions during a disruptive protest.
