Court Opinion

ID: 9843427
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:39:05.8891+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:46.926467
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE SHEEHY,
concurring:
I concur wholly with the foregoing opinion. It may help to demonstrate the unconstitutional use of state funds for private purposes if we examine some of the investments that are permitted by the law or committed by the Board.
The legislature in 1983 authorized the formation of qualified “Montana Capital Companies” Section 90-8-101 et seq., MCA. These companies are authorized to acquire capital from investors, who in turn, if the Capital Company were certified under the Act as qualified, are entitled to a credit upon their state income taxes up to 50 percent of their investment. Under the law, Section 90-3-415, MCA, the Board is required to make at least 20 percent of the technology development account available for investment in certified Montana Capital Companies. At the time the proposed law was pending before the legislature, the legislators were told that there were three such qualified Capital Investment Companies in Montana of which one is active. It was proposed that each of these companies would receive approximately one million dollars from the bond issue for capital investment. Thus the investment made by the private investors in the way of contributions to capital in the Capital Investment Company would be leveraged by the sum of one million dollars from money generated originally by coal taxes.
From another aspect, the program developed by the Board four types of investment to which the bond issue funds may be applied, (1) research capability development; (2) applied technology research; (3) technical assistance and technology transfer; (4) and seed capital investment. These programs, except technical assistance and technology transfer, require at least a dollar-for-dollar match with non-state appropriated funds.
Among other commitments, the Board had committed for the period between November 1, 1986 and December 1, 1987 the following “investments” under technology transfer:
*95RECIPIENT LOCATION DESCRIPTION AMOUNT
Montana Ambassadors Helena, MT Proposal to U.S. West $50,000
Montana Helena, MT Montana Venture $ 7,500
Ambassadors Capital Forum
Montana Helena, MT Transfer of $50,600
Wool Sheep Management
Growers Technology
Clearly, each of the foregoing commitments is the use of state monies for private purposes, because there is no provision for reimbursement nor a dollar for dollar match. However well intended the objectives may have been, these uses of state monies through private agencies clearly offend the Montana Constitution.