Text

"Section 7. 20 Departments. All executive and administrative offices, boards, bureaus, commissions, agencies and instrumentalities of the executive branch (except for the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, and auditor) and their respective functions, powers, and duties, shall be allocated by law among not more than 20 principal departments so as to provide an orderly arrangement in the administrative organization of state government. Temporary commissions may be established by law and need not be allocated within a department.."Mont. Const. art. VI § 7. : http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/CONSTITUTION/VI/7.htm

History

Sources

1884 Proposed Montana Constitution

The 1884 Proposed Montana Constitution placed all executive branch authority with the Governor in proposed Article V, § 5 :
"The supreme executive power of the State shall be vested in the Governor, who shall see that the laws are faithfully executed." Proposed 1884 Mont. Const. art. V § 5: https://archive.org/stream/montanaconstitutmontrich#page/12/mode/2up

1889 Montana Constitution

When the 1889 Montana constitution was ratified, it adopted the the exact same language as the proposed 1884 constitution into Article VII § 5 :
"The supreme executive power of the State shall be vested in the Governor, who shall see that the laws are faithfully executed."1889 Mont. Const. art. VII § 5: https://archive.org/stream/constitutionofst00montrich#page/n21/mode/2up

1969 Montana Legislature

At the urging of newly elected Governor Forrest Anderson, the 1969 Montana Legislature voted to pass referendum language proposing a Constitutional Convention to review and revise the 1889 Constitution 1969 Session Laws, Chapter 65. and also passed an act to temporarily increase the limits of Article XIX, § 9 as to the number of constitutional referendums presented in general election and to allow for the reorganization of the executive branch.1969 Session Laws, Chapter 66.

Building off the challenges confronted in the regular session, Anderson also reconvened the 1969 Legislature for a special session to address the lack of a budget and draft a referendum for the voters to weigh in on amending the 1889 Montana Constitution requiring the Executive branch to reorganize into twenty (20) Departments by July 1, 1973. Session Laws of 1969, Extraordinary Session, Chapter 1.

A total of four constitutional amendments by referendum were presented to the voters on November 3, 1970.

Governor Anderson Reforms

Forrest Anderson campaigned in the 1968 election for Governor on a platform to reduce and reorganize the 188 existing Executive and Administrative Offices, Boards, Bureaus, Commissions, Agencies and Instrumentalities of state government down to less than 20 Departments. His campaign slogans of "Pay more, what for?" and "20's Plenty" were clear messages to the voters and to the legislature that Montana's executive branch was out of control. Anderson succeeded in getting the legislature to form a blue ribbon commission 1969 Session Laws,Chapter 293. to study how Montana could reorganize the Executive branch to be more efficient and effective in carrying out its role. Anderson, Newell; Shovers, Brian; and Barrett, Evan, "Transcript for Episode 03: Big Change Coming: Governor Forrest Anderson's Unprecedented Preparation for Bringing Change" (2015). Crucible Written Transcripts. 3. http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/crucible_transcriptions/3 Anderson chaired the Montana Commission on Executive Reorganization and renowned UM Law School Professor William "Duke" Crowley served as the Director, creating a 300 page report for the 1971 Legislature on how Montana could become a more efficient, modern state government.Commission on Executive Reorganization, Montana, "Executive Reorganization: Report to the Montana Legislative Assembly" (1970). Supplementary Materials. Book 1. http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/crucible_materials/1

1970 General Election - Constitutional Amendments

The legislature's referendums sought voter approval to temporarily increase the number of constitutional ballot measures that could be submitted to the voters in a general election in order to to allow the State to reorganize the Executive Branch. 1970 Voter Information Packet: http://sos.mt.gov/portals/142/Elections/archives/1970s/1970_VIP.pdf?dt=1494263489129

On November 3, 1970, the voters soundly favored the proposed amendment to the 1889 Montana Constitution calling for reorganization of the Executive branch and cast 138,119 votes in favor and 59,863 against. 1970 General Election Ballot Results: https://archive.org/details/reportofofficial1970montrich This amendment had the greatest plurality of the four constitutional amendments on the 1970 general ballot.

As a result, a new section to Article VII was created: "Section ____. All executives and administrative offices, boards, bureaus, commissions, agencies and instrumentalities of the executive department of state government and their respective functions, powers and duties, except for the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of the state, attorney general, state treasurer, state auditor and superintendent of public instruction, shall be allocated by law among and within not more than twenty (20) departments by no later than July 1, 1973. Subsequently, all new powers or functions shall be assigned to departments, division, sections, or units in such a manner as will tend to provide an orderly arrangement in the administrative organization of state government. Temporary commissions may be established by law and need not be allocated within a principal department." Session Laws of 1969, Extraordinary Session, Chapter 1

Drafting

1972 Constitutional Convention

At the 1972 Constitutional Convention, the delegates of the Executive Committee met to discuss the recent addition to the constitution passed by the voters in 1970 and draft some changes for inclusion in the proposed 1972 Montana Constitution. The committee interviewed and took testimony from more than 40 persons holding elected office or positions on boards and commissions. The majority of the committee was in strong support of the voters wish to put the executive power and responsibility back into the hands of the governor, but voted to delete the the offices of state auditor and state treasurer from the current language of proposed Article VI, § 7. 1972 Con-Con Executive Committee Majority report, Vol 1, Comments: pg 448-449 ; http://courts.mt.gov/portals/113/library/mt_cons_convention/vol1.pdf

The general body of delegates voted to replace the deleted offices when considering the draft proposal 1972 Montana Con-Con transcripts, vol.4, pg. 933-939 ; http://courts.mt.gov/portals/113/library/mt_cons_convention/vol4.pdf and after further discussion about the merits of the proposal, the delegates voted to adopt what was represented as the the identical language of the 1970 Constitutional amendment, save the language about a date certain for the completion of the executive reorganization.

A floor motion to tack additional statutory language onto the end of the section failed by a narrow 43 Ayes/44 Nayes. Delegate Roeder proposed that amended language which would have given a sitting governor the ability to make additional changes following the reorganization without the consent of the legislature. Despite argument that future governors should have the same executive control as was presently in the hands of Governor Anderson, the delegates rejected that language and adopted section 7 with only the addition of the auditor and treasurer. 1972 Montana Con-Con transcripts, vol.4, pg. 933-939 ; http://courts.mt.gov/portals/113/library/mt_cons_convention/vol4.pdf

Interestingly, by the time the new constitution made it's way to the voters, the constitutional office of State Treasurer had been eliminated from Article VI, § 1 and replaced with the head of the Department of Administration serving as ex-officio treasurer. The ballot measure therefore went to the voters without the inclusion of the state treasurer.1972 Montana Voters Information Pamphlet; http://www.umt.edu/law/library/files/1972voterspamphlet

Ratification

Article VI, § 7 was ratified by the people of Montana as part of the proposed 1972 constitution. The 1972 Voter's Pamphlet noted the article was retained from the present constitutional provisions: "Number of principal executive departments limited to 20. Section 7."1972 Montana Voters Information Pamphlet; http://www.umt.edu/law/library/files/1972voterspamphlet

Interpretation

==== "The Need for Executive Reorganization" <ref>Commission on Executive Reorganization, Montana, "Executive Reorganization: Report to the Montana Legislative Assembly" (1970). Supplementary Materials. 1. http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/crucible_materials/1</ref>====

"Since the time of its creation in 1889, the functions of Montana's executive branch of state government have been expanded in scope and complexity by the Legislature in order that social, economic and demographic growth might be met.

In meeting the continually expanding demands for specific functions to solve specific problems the Legislature has followed, perhaps inadvertently, the principle that each function of state government requires a single autonomous agency to perform it. It frequently happens that a new agency is created to perform a function closely related to the work already being done by an existing agency. The overall result is that while the responsibility of the executive branch has increased tremendously there have been no significant adjustments made in the overall pattern of organization of the executive. Consequently, the executive branch has grown into a cumbersome, fragmented and haphazard collection of autonomous agencies created at various times in response to needs and pressures of the moment.

The results of this fragmented growth of Montana's executive branch have been: 1) a decrease in the ability of the government to respond in a comprehensive manner to the problems and needs of the people that ought to be dealt with at the state level; 2) a fractional division and diffusion of the executive authority that deteriorates the democratic process by making it impossible for the people of Montana to pinpoint definite responsibility for the conduct of executive governmental affairs; 3) a decrease in the management abilities due to the unnecessarily large increase in the number of independent, autonomous units of government; 4) an increase in the in the complexity and cost of government out of proportion to the expanded services; and 5) a reduction in the the effective control of state government through responsible elected representatives--principally the Governor and the Legislature. In short, with the present administrative structure, executive state government cannot function as an effective and viable unit. When the lag in overall adjustments of the organization of the executive government to expanded requirements becomes as great as it is presently in Montana, comprehensive reorganization of the structure is necessary to insure that government will be maintained in an efficient and responsible manner."

Pre-Reorganization Structure of Montana's Executive Branch

"At the time of achieving statehood there were 20 executive agencies in Montana's government. Today [1970] there are some 188. Like most states, Montana's executive branch began as a system of small, clientele-oriented agencies, and as new functions and programs were undertaken, still more special agencies were created to administer them. New agencies were frequently created to perform functions closely related to the work already being done by an existing agency." <ref>Commission on Executive Reorganization, Montana, "Executive Reorganization: Report to the Montana Legislative Assembly" (1970). Supplementary Materials. 1. http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/crucible_materials/1</ref>

The 188 executive agencies in Montana government at the end of 1970 fell into the following categories:
(7) Elected constitutional officers,
(1) Elected statutory body - Railroad and Public Service Commission,
(4) Constitutional boards with full ex-officio membership,
(4) Multi-member bodies whose membership is fixed by law,
(10) Agencies headed by single executives appointed by the Governor,
(77) Agencies headed by policy-making multi-member bodies,
(53) Advisory committees,
(11) Defunct statutory agencies, and
(21) Agencies operating by law as autonomous units under the general authority of a larger department or ex-officio designations of agencies headed by single executives.

The memberships of these boards, commissions and councils numbered nearly 900 individuals.

Executive Reorganization Committee Recommendations

The committee recommended that there be 18 principal departments created in the reorganization process: <ref>Commission on Executive Reorganization, Montana, "Executive Reorganization: Report to the Montana Legislative Assembly" (1970). Supplementary Materials. 1. http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/crucible_materials/1</ref>
Department of Administration
Department of Agriculture
Department of Business Regulation
Department of Education
Department of Health and Environmental Sciences
Department of Highways
Department of Institutions
Department of Intergovernmental Relations
Department of Labor and Industry
Department of Lands
Department of Law Enforcement and Public Safety
Department of Livestock
Department of Military Affairs
Department of Natural Resources and Conservation
Department of Professional & Occupational Licensing
Department of Public Service Regulation
Department of Revenue
Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services

Commentary