Editor's note: This is the second in a two-part series analyzing Sen. Conrad Burns' claim to have obtained $2.2 billion for Montana.
Democratic Sen. Max Baucus says he has brought billions of dollars more in federal money to Montana in the past 10 years than Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, who has made his delivery of funds to the state a cornerstone of his re-election campaign.
Over the last 10 years, Baucus has helped deliver nearly $8.4 billion in appropriation requests and in funds coming to the state through bills he helped write, according to estimates provided by his Senate office.
Burns, meanwhile, has consistently told voters on the campaign trail that he has used his seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee to bring home more than $2 billion for specific projects all over Montana. He argues that if voters replaced him with Democrat Jon Tester, that money would stop flowing.
Direct comparisons are difficult. The two senators may, in fact, both be claiming credit for some of the same projects in their tallies. And often it takes many members of Congress working together to secure any funding.
For example, when the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee in June approved a funding bill, Baucus sent out a press release listing the following projects he requested for Montana.
The 10 items included $6 million for Rocky Boy/North Central Montana Regional Water System and $10 million for Fort Peck/Dry Prairie Rural Water System.
Burns, who sits on the subcommittee, also issued a press release titled “Burns Secures Major Energy and Water Projects for Montana.” It listed nearly all the same projects, plus others. It credited Baucus, who does not sit on the subpanel, for requesting one project - rural water grants.
Burns claims he brought $246 million to one city alone - Butte. But according to Baucus' office, the Democrat requested some $198 million of the same dollars for the same projects.
With different members of Congress having a hand in various steps as funding winds its way through the lawmaking process, it is often difficult to assign full credit to one lawmaker for funds. Thus some ambiguity remains in the tallies provided by the senators of their accomplishments.
With his seat on Appropriations, Burns has the ability to earmark or request dollar amounts for specific businesses or projects throughout the state. He has used that position to bring in significant funds for Montana.
While Baucus does not sit on the committee, he and all senators makes requests of the panel, listed by priority. As the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee, Baucus also has a key role in shaping tax policy and some health care policies that bring dollars home. And with his Environment and Public Works Committee post, he has helped write highway bills, his office noted.
Baucus' claim to have brought more funding offers a comparison to the scale of Burns' work to secure federal dollars, which he has consistently highlighted as the reason that Montanans should send him back to the Senate.
According to a Baucus tally, the Democrat's work on the 2002 farm bill alone brought over $1.5 billion. He said he delivered more than $2.3 billion for the state from the 2005 highway bill and $1.6 billion from the 1998 highway bill.
Baucus also says he brought in almost $2 billion in health care money. Some of that is in future dollars, such as from the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 that he helped shape with the Finance panel, which he said will bring approximately $1.4 billion to Montana over 10 years.
Baucus has, through annual requests, brought in another $1 billion in appropriations for Montana between 1998 and 2006, his office said.
“Folks can feel comfortable replacing Conrad Burns because Max Baucus is a senior member of the United States Senate and will continue to secure federal funds for Montana and work with Jon Tester,” said Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser.
Kaiser noted that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to give Tester a seat on the Appropriations panel “as soon as possible” if Tester is elected. But it seems unlikely a seat will open up next year.
“Max has amassed a tremendous amount of seniority in the United States Senate and that enables him to get things done,” Kaiser said. “Max wields considerable influence when it comes to delivering federal funds for Montana.”
Burns spokesman Erik Iverson said Baucus should be credited with bringing money to Montana. But he added that Baucus is only one member of Montana's congressional team, and Burns - with his 18 years seniority - would be greatly missed if replaced with “an unknown quantity” like Tester.
“It's an over-reach to say he did it by himself,” Iverson said of Baucus' figures.
Iverson said Burns and fellow Republican, Rep. Denny Rehberg, work well together with Baucus to bring federal money to Montana.
“Senator Burns has never suggested that he's the only one who brings money to Montana, because it's not true,” Iverson said. “It's good to have three powerful leaders and it makes no sense to weaken our team by replacing one member with a rookie.”
But on the campaign trail, Burns generally does not share credit for the $2 billion he says he brought to Montana.
Baucus says he has brought $1.5 billion to Montana from the 2002 farm bill alone. But with his seat on the Agriculture Committee, Baucus says he secured another $44 million for agriculture projects in the state, including $2.5 million for the Northern Plains Research Lab.
By contrast, Burns says he has brought nearly $330 million in agriculture projects. He lists nearly $13.9 million in funding directed to the Northern Plains Research Lab.
Baucus says his seat on the Environment and Public Works Committee helped him secure $94 million for water and energy resources, including $16 million for Dry Prairie/Fort Peck Project construction. He also claims to have brought in $199 million for conservation, including $10 million for Blackfoot Challenge, an effort to preserve open space along the Blackfoot River through a series of conservation easements and other means.
Burns says he has brought $33.5 million in clean water projects, $229 million for conservation and $113 million in land conservation to the state. He lists nearly $40 million for the Dry Prairie/Fort Peck water project and $37.7 million for the Blackfoot Challenge.
Besides the $3.9 billion he says he delivered from the 1998 and 2005 highway bills, Baucus says he brought another $121 million for transportation.
By contrast, Burns says he brought $21.2 million for airports, $99.1 million for roads and $97.2 million for transportation. He also lists $152.8 million in infrastructure projects.
As the top-ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, Baucus says he brought $11 million for economic development in the state. Burns says he brought $86 million for the same purpose.
In other areas:
Baucus says he brought $458 million for military and defense; Burns says he brought $269.5 million for defense and $2.9 million for veterans.
In the area of crime and law enforcement, Baucus says he brought $48 million to the state; Burns says he brought $40.6 million.
Baucus says he brought $46 million for technology; Burns says he brought $78.6 million for technology.
By JENNIFER McKEE of the Missoulian State Bureau and NOELLE STRAUB of the Missoulian D.C. Bureau
Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series analyzing Sen. Conrad Burns' claim to have obtained $2.2 billion for Montana. Coming Thursday: Sen. Max Baucus says he has delivered more federal money to Montana than Burns.
A cornerstone of Sen. Conrad Burns' re-election campaign is the three-term incumbent's slogan that he is “delivering for Montana.”
Burns, a Republican with a seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, says he has brought $2.2 billion in federal spending to Montana and that money would disappear if voters replace him with Democrat Jon Tester.
How accurate is the senator's claim of “delivering” $2.2 billion? To provide perspective on the reality behind the numbers, Missoulian State Bureau reporters evaluated just one portion of the total: $246 million in federal funds that Burns says he steered to businesses in Butte.
Butte is home to a handful of companies that count on government contracts for a significant portion of their business. A major part of the money Burns says he brought to Butte has gone to these companies.
Analysis of the federally funded projects in Butte shows that Burns' help in securing federal dollars for the city and its businesses has been substantial.
The analysis also shows that lobbyists who formerly worked on Burns' staff were involved in appropriations; that not all the money stayed in Montana; and that in one case, $1 million included in Burns' $2.2 billion figure never made it to Montana at all.
Burns' $2.2 billion figure comes from the senator's own compilation, said Erik Iverson, a spokesman for the Burns campaign. At least some of the list was compiled from press releases that Burns' office sent out at the time the money was approved. The list released to the Missoulian State Bureau includes 33 pages of more than 900 projects that Burns said he either “earmarked” - set aside for a specific project - or otherwise secured for Montana. Most of the projects are from the early 2000s, while some stretch as far back as 1994. In Butte, the list included more than 90 projects.
One of the largest beneficiaries of federal largesse in Butte is MSE, a company that now employs about 160 people there and about 10 others in offices out of state. MSE has done work for a variety of government agencies, working mostly on defense and energy projects, said Jeff Ruffner, company president.
Burns claims to have brought almost $178 million in government business to MSE.
Another Butte company to which Burns has brought money is Resodyn Corp., which, like MSE, depends heavily on government contracts.
Burns brought more than $23 million in projects from the Defense and Energy departments to Resodyn, said company president Larry Farrar.
About 90 percent of that money stayed in Butte, Farrar said. The rest went to buy motors, pumps and other equipment made elsewhere.
The company manufactures equipment to sell to the military and industrial sectors and is creating jobs, Farrar said. Resodyn has 35 employees and is in the process of hiring another 10 to 15 more.
The company bought an empty building for its headquarters and built a 23,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, boosting local tax revenues.
“There's not a lot of technology, industry, not a lot of things going on out here,” Farrar said. “So the ability to secure these contracts has been really helpful to build a sustainable business.”
The money Resodyn said it has received with Burns' help is less than the amount Burns claims to have brought to the company, however. Several of the company's major contracts are for amounts several hundred thousand dollars lower, according to Resodyn's figures, than the numbers provided by Burns' campaign.
Burns spokesman Iverson said the difference is due to the way different federal agencies allocate money. Burns' list reflects money the senator earmarked or otherwise set aside for Montana projects. But government agencies sometimes hold some of that money back, meaning the amount of money that actually ends up in Montana may be less than the total amount set aside.
In one case, money Burns claimed to have brought to Butte never made to Montana at all. The senator's list includes $1 million in 2005 to an unnamed company to make special metals for the military. The money never came to Butte and was evidently included in the list by mistake, according to a Burns spokesman.
Lobbying by individuals with connections to Burns also seems to play a role in the appropriations benefiting Butte. Of the $246 million Burns said he has brought to Butte, more than half - about $117 million - went to entities that employed former Burns staffers as lobbyists, according to federal lobbying records.
Resodyn's Farrar said he started working with Burns' office in 2003, when the company hired lobbying firm Van Scoyoc and Associates, where Randall Popelka, who had worked for Burns for seven years, was then working as a vice president. Popelka was one of the company's registered lobbyists until the middle of 2005, when he left lobbying and returned to work in Burns' office as legislative director.
Resodyn has paid the firm about $200,000, federal records show. Farrar said the company chose Van Scoyoc because the firm was recommended to him and because the firm was well-known, and had clients in Montana.
MSE has also hired Burns' former staff as lobbyists. Federal records show the company employed Anderson & Baker in 1999 and 2000. Mark Baker is Burns' former legislative director. Baker is also the unpaid chairman of Burns' re-election campaign and early on served as its spokesman.
MSE paid Anderson Baker $120,000, Senate records show.
Since 2004, the records show, MSE has retained Gage, a lobbying firm started by Burns' former chief of staff, Leo Giacometto. Gage employs several lobbyists who previously worked in Burns' office.
Gage has reported $205,000 in lobbing income from MSE, the latest figures show.
MSE's Ruffner said the company hired Gage because the firm has “key knowledge” of the kind of projects MSE works on. Asked if MSE would keep Gage as its lobbyist should Burns lose, Ruffner said he didn't know, adding that all company lobbying contracts are reviewed annually and Ruffner can't say if any will be retained.
MSE has more than one lobbying firm. The company also retains Patton Boggs, a major lobby house, and Kimmitt, Senter, Coates & Weinferter, another big lobbying firm with ties to both Democrats and Republicans.
Ruffner said his company works with all of Montana's three-man congressional delegation, but Burns, with his spot on the Appropriations Committee, is pivotal.
“They've all been fantastic,” Ruffner said. “But with Senator Burns on Appropriations, he takes the lead on funding.”
Ruffner said the company “would survive” if Burns lost the election, but the absence of the senator's appropriating power would hurt.
“It would have an impact not just to MSE, but to Butte and Montana,” he said.
Burns' appropriations have been a boon to Butte and the state, said Marko Lucich, executive director of the Butte Chamber of Commerce. He said that for the first time in 40 years, Butte's population is growing, albeit slowly.
But Lucich doesn't give all the credit to Burns. Baucus, along with Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., have been a “huge part” of helping the area, he said, along with local state legislators.
“Senator Baucus is very important, too, equally important, he's done pretty much the same thing for our community,” Lucich said.
“This is one piece of the puzzle,” he said of Burns' appropriations. “I would say it has really helped us. Is this the sole factor? No, very definitely not.”
Where did all the money go?
Burns claims he brought $2.2 billion to Montana. Here's a sampling of where some of that money went:
In Missoula:
Amount: $16.8 million between 2001 and 2005.
For: Improvements to the Missoula airport.
Amount: $500,000 in 2001.
For: Buying Travelers' Rest, in Lolo, where Lewis and Clark camped.
In Butte:
Burns secured many millions for several projects pursued by MSE, including one in which the company built a special way to destroy old bombs and other munitions for the Army. MSE has a way of freezing the bombs, crushing them, then burning them in a special furnace until the bombs are rendered environmentally inert.
Resodyn Corporation, another Butte company, claims the following:
Amount: $6.5 million over 2004, 2005 and 2006.
For: Technology to mix materials for propellants.
Amount: $6.3 million over 2006 and 2007.
For: Research on treatments of wounded soldiers in the field.
In Billings:
Amount: $4.9 million in 1999 and 2002.
For: Money to secure Pompey's Pillar and build a visitors center at the landmark. Pompey's Pillar is a bluff near the Yellowstone River and the only place on the Lewis and Clark trail where the explorers left an intentional mark of their presence.
Amount: $500,000.
For: Money to build a bike and walking trail near Alkali Creek.
