State auditor candidates see their roles as vital to consumer protection

Oct. 5--The circumstances that brought Shane Morigeau and Troy Downing to the state auditor's race couldn't be more different.

But the two men share quintessential Montana stories.

Morigeau, the Democrat in the race, grew up on the Flathead Indian Reservation and was elected to the Montana House for a second term in 2018, after working as a state legislative lobbyist, prosecutor and most recently as an attorney for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Downing, an Air Force veteran who served twice in Afghanistan, most recently ran for the U.S. Senate when he joined a field of four Republicans trying to unseat Sen. Jon Tester in 2018. Downing has been a real estate developer and launched his own self-storage insurance business.

During that race, Downing briefly took the spotlight when accusations about buying less-costly in-state hunting and fishing licenses as an out-of-state resident surfaced. He ended up pleading guilty to two misdemeanors a month after the primary for obtaining the in-state hunting and fishing licenses between 2011 and 2016 while living in California.

Downing again found himself in trouble with the state earlier this summer when the state's Commissioner of Political Practice Jeff Mangan determined that Downing incurred seven campaign finance violations while running in the state auditor primary in June.

The news was splashy, Downing said, but the "claims were incredibly minor."

Downing feels passionately about the state auditor's office, which oversees insurance and securities regulations, two industries in which he's worked.

"I think that's meaningful," he said of his experience.

Downing sees the auditor's office as the state's consumer protection arm, a belief shared by Morigeau. For Downing, that protection role has to be balanced by advocacy for businesses operating in the state. Too much regulation will stifle business growth, he said.

For Morigeau, he hopes the auditor's office through regulation can put more pressure on insurance companies and health care providers to be more transparent in their billing and in the prices they charge for services.

He understands that will put more pressure on those organizations, "but it's the right thing to do," he said.

Morigeau's passion for health care reform was born from his days lobbying for Medicaid expansion with the state legislature earlier this decade. That passion ultimately pushed him to run for the legislature and then to run for auditor.

He also sees the rapid growth in homeowner insurance rates in the state as an important issue that doesn't get as much attention as health insurance. Costs are too high relative to home prices, he said. More needs to be down to protect homeowners.

"How are we not working harder on this," he said.

Downing's background in insurance and securities gives him the experience and insider's knowledge to best craft reform and advocate for state residents against insurance agencies and other groups, he said.

"The job of this office is make sure (those agencies) are doing exactly what they're required to do," he said.

His understanding of how insurance agencies work best equips him to do that, he said.

"I've got that experience," he said. "My opponent does not."

If the state can make itself more attractive to insurance companies and other agencies, it will bring more operators to the state, giving consumers more choice, Downing said. That in turn will drive down costs, he said.

Morigeau doesn't disagree, but he said the state has to be smart about it. The state's current auditor Matt Rosendale allowed a religious health care "sharing ministry" to return to Montana after it was banned in 2007. As a health care sharing service, the ministry doesn't operate under the same regulations that govern insurance providers.

Rosendale also advocated for short-term plans that, like the sharing ministries, do not cover pre-existing conditions.

"I'm all about choice, but I'm also about protecting people so they don't get hurt," Morigeau said. "I'm really concerned about protecting people with pre-existing conditions."

Rosendale, a Republican, is running for Montana's lone U.S. House seat.

The election is Nov. 3. For those voting by mail, election officials have advised voters return their ballots swiftly to ensure they are counted.

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