A pair of Republican state lawmakers from the Flathead Valley are pushing for a new Senate committee to investigate recent allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers by state employees.

Sens. Dee Brown, R-Hungry Horse, and Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, sent a letter to Montana legislators this week calling for the creation of the new committee. They cite recent news reports that alleged “bullying and intimidation” of state government employees by agency and departmental officials, as well as dozens of confidential settlements paid out to former employees.

In an interview Tuesday, Keenan said the letter was in part prompted by a lawsuit filed Oct. 18 in Lewis and Clark District Court against the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

In the wrongful termination suit, which also names the department’s director, Richard Opper, former DPHHS audit bureau chief Carol Bondy alleges she was dismissed in violation of state and department policy after exposing possible misuse of state funds by the department. The lawsuit alleges that Bondy, a department employee for 17 years, was placed on administrative leave in August 2015 and fired the following December “because she refused to violate public policy though directed to do so by DPHHS management.”

Department spokesman Jon Ebelt on Tuesday provided an emailed statement declining to comment on pending litigation, but stated, “DPHHS takes seriously any allegations of wrongful termination, just as we take seriously any case of employee misconduct.”

Bondy names multiple instances in which she allegedly reported mismanagement of funds by the department or government contractors, including duplicate payments, manipulation of contract records, possible use of auditing as a political tool and improper advances of state funds. She also accuses her supervisors, along with administration officials, of violating public policy and general auditing standards by attempting to diminish the independence of the department’s auditing bureau.

“Further, Bondy was terminated because she refused to have the audit bureau used for cover or to hide the department’s improper contracting practices, some of which practices were directed by persons located within the Governor’s Office,” the lawsuit states.

Bondy also alleges that her dismissal was partially in retaliation for providing legislators with public records requested from her office, including a spreadsheet sent to Keenan. Keenan acknowledged he had received documents from Bondy, as well as another former DPHHS employee who was subsequently fired.

In his emailed statement, Ebelt also referred to Bondy’s administrative hearing determination, which sided with the department. The findings include that Bondy “knew one of her auditors was secretly providing a legislator with documents that DPHHS had no knowledge about” and failed to inform management.

Keenan said he was troubled by the department’s policy prohibiting employees from communicating with legislators, the media or members of the public without first notifying supervisors.

“Hopefully there will be some bipartisan agreement that there needs to be a committee during the session ... that looks into the details of the accusations and ultimately we put some transparency into the system and we gain some respect from the executive branch of government, that our supposedly co-equal branch of government respects the legislature and the people we represent as legislators,” Keenan said.

Brown said she envisions a special standing Senate committee that would focus on allegations of wrongdoing throughout the executive branch. She echoed a concern frequently cited by Republican lawmakers that too little oversight exists outside the legislative sessions, which are typically held for just 90 days every two years.

“The legislative branch is quickly becoming the least effective branch, and I hate for that to happen,” she said.

Referring to an article published earlier this month in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Brown criticized the more than $900,000 in settlements reportedly paid out to state employees over the past three years. While the amounts paid out to employees are public information, the circumstances leading to those payments are listed as confidential.

“Anytime you have settlements with employees, everybody hides behind, ‘It’s a private issue, it’s a personnel issue,’ behind some type of mask,” Brown said. “When it involves taxpayer money, I say there should be more openness.”

The call for a new committee comes on the heels of Senate President Debbie Barrett’s request last week that questionable spending patterns at DPHHS be the subject of an investigation. According to the Missoulian, Opper responded by calling her request “politically motivated.”

Both Brown and Keenan denied any political implications in their joint letter, despite it being sent just two weeks before Election Day. They said the timing resulted instead from the upcoming state Republican caucus, scheduled for the week after the election.

“I’ve been communicating and dealing with this issue since I went to the Legislature in January,” Keenan said. “I can’t defend the timing, but it needs to be done in the next legislative session, it needs to be done now, it needed to be done yesterday.”

While the letter refers to allegations directed at the executive branch led by Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, Brown said her concerns aren’t an attack on either party.

“I don’t care who’s elected November 8, I really don’t care,” Brown said. “The Legislature should take a little more interest in what goes on in state government. ... If it’s all sunshine and blue skies, then we’re going to close the door and move on to other topics. But if there is gray area there we need to look into more fully, then I say let’s do it.”

Phone calls to Senate Minority Leader Jon Sesso, D-Butte, were not immediately returned.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.