In Montana's election laws, let there be light

"I never bought a man that wasn't for sale," said former U.S. Sen. William Clark. One of Montana's first senators, Clark bought his way to Washington with $10,000 bribes to state legislators.

We've come a long way since then, passing the Corrupt Practices Act in 1912 and enjoying a century of slow-but-sure progress toward cleaner, fairer elections. Recent developments in election spending, however, threaten that century of work.

Twice during this year's legislative session, Montana legislators rejected a bipartisan proposal that would modestly increase individual contribution limits to campaig...