A pioneer in government transparency, Jon made history the day he took office, fulfilling a campaign promise and becoming the first member of Congress to post his daily public schedule on his website.

After helping pass the most sweeping ethics reforms since Watergate, he went beyond those rules and banned all gifts, meals, and travel from lobbyists for himself and his staff.

Jon closed the revolving door, barring any staff who become lobbyists from ever lobbying him or ever being rehired. He also backed legislation that would permanently prevent former members of Congress from becoming registered lobbyists.

Jon is the only member of Congress to voluntarily request regular, independent ethics reviews of himself and his staff. So far, two ethics audits have been conducted by retired Montana judges and Jon has posted the results on his website for all Montanans to see. The most recent review found that Jon “has established an ethics regime for his offices that provides clear, comprehensive and workable guidance for his staff and that regime appears to be substantially adhered to and effectively enforced.”

Montanans can find detailed information on Jon’s website for all federal funding requests he’s made for Montana projects, and the text of major bills and amendments he’s sponsored and cosponsored.

Jon helped kill two pay raises for members of Congress, and helped pass legislation in the Senate that would repeal automatic Congressional pay raises.

Working to blaze a new tail of openness and accountability, Jon declared it was time to “raise the bar” in 2010, when he introduced groundbreaking transparency legislation. The Public Online Information Act would require the vast majority of public documents to be posted in a free, searchable online clearinghouse. The bill would also establish an independent, bipartisan watchdog advisory committee to issue guidelines for making public information more accessible online.

After visiting all of Montana’s 56 counties during the past two years, Jon knows that Montanans continue to put a high value on government transparency and accountability. Jon’s record cleaning up Washington has earned him the title, “Montana’s advocate for accountability.”

Click HERE to see more about where Jon stands ethics and transparency in government.