Paul Richards won his primary election in June and was elected to the Montana House of Representatives in November 1974, defeating incumbent Rep. William Campbell. At the time, Richards was the youngest legislator ever elected in the United States. He was quite experienced, however, having worked in four prior legislative sessions, three in Montana and one in Washington.

Rep. Richards helped install new leadership in the Montana House and was appointed to his top two committee choices: the House Business and Industry Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee.

Rep. Richards successfully sponsored landmark legislation including:

• Montana Voter Information Handbook. This legislation created a publication sent to every registered voter in the state. The Voter Information Handbook spells out proponents’ and opponents’ arguments for or against initiatives, referenda, Constitutional amendments, and other ballot measures. The handbook levels the playing field, by providing voters with equal access to essential information from all sides on the issue.
  
  
• Montana Ballot Clarification Act. This legislation provided voters with simple language describing what they are voting for or against right where they mark their ballots. Before passage of this legislation, confusing ballot measure language could be followed by "FOR the Above Amendment" or "AGAINST the Above Amendment." The Montana Ballot Clarification Act allows voters to know exactly how they are voting, for instance: "FOR annual sessions" or "AGAINST Annual Sessions."
  
  
• Montana Small Claims Courts. This legislation offers Montanans a simple and direct lawyer-less court through which to satisfy small claims. Small Claims Courts make justice available to all, not just the wealthy. When this legislation was stalled in the Montana Senate, Richards convinced Ralph Nader to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The resultant publicity helped blast the bill out of committee to a strong floor victory.
  
  
• Tax Increment Financing. This legislation encourages the restoration and renovation of existing buildings, by deferring property taxes increases over a multi-year period. The community benefits from restored buildings, historic preservation, and revitalization of urban centers. The property owner benefits from less initial property taxes. As the property becomes more financially viable, taxes incrementally increase, thus further benefitting the community.
  
  
• Retention of the House Floor. Richards was the author or the House rule barring professional lobbyists from the House floor for two hours prior to convening. Before Richards’ rule, professional lobbyists had almost unlimited floor access.
  
  
• National Energy Policy. Richards successfully sponsored a joint resolution questioning national energy policies that promote rapid development of fossil fuels, at the expense of "national sacrifice areas," including Montana. The resolution cited the need for energy conservation and alternative energy and "respectfully requested" the federal government "to consider the interests of all the American people, not just the fossil fuel corporations, in formulating national energy policy."
  
  
• Pacific Northwest Power Planning. This successful resolution was the beginning of the Montana government’s official involvement in Pacific Northwest regional power planning. It questioned existing power planning that favored exponential growth in coal-fired power plants, rejected energy conservation and alternative energy, and committed one-third of the region’s electricity to the aluminum industry. This resolution, along with efforts by the governors of Oregon and Washington, helped create the Northwest Power Planning Council. After he voluntarily retired as a legislator, Richards, in his new capacity as state director of Common Cause, helped secure Congressional passage of legislation authorizing the Council.

Rep. Richards also sponsored legislation that addressed the following issues:

• Montana Department of Transportation. Richards wanted integrated inter-modal transportation in Montana and introduced legislation to that effect. His bill to create the Montana Department of Transportation was defeated, due to strong opposition from the then-Montana Department of Highways and the asphalt lobby. The Department of Highways was changed into the Department of Transportation in a subsequent legislature, although inter-modal emphases (light rail, mass transit, passenger trains, bike paths, encouragement of pedestrians, etc.) are still lacking.

Ban on Nuclear Power Plants. Alarmed by plans to build two nuclear power plants in northwest Montana along the Clark Fork River, Richards introduced legislation prohibiting nuclear power plants in Montana. "The only safe nuclear power plant is the one that is 93 million miles away," he said at the time. Although the legislation was narrowly defeated, it served as the impetus for two successful ballot initiatives; one governing radioactive waste and the other barring construction of the plants.


• Rights of Participation. This legislation would have allowed public employees to participate in election campaigns and protected them from undue influence by their superiors. Although it failed, it was enacted by a subsequent legislature. State employees are now allowed to contribute to campaigns and to run for office themselves.
  
  
• Historical Preservation of the Montana State Capitol. Richards sponsored two pieces of legislation to preserve and protect deteriorating historical murals throughout the Capitol complex. Although they were defeated, subsequent legislatures recognized the need for historical preservation and the murals, along with the Capitol infrastructure, were preserved.
  
  
• Highway Construction. Conventional highway construction (cut and fill) results in excessive environmental disruption of confined valleys and mountainous areas. This resolution urged the Montana Department of Highways to consider alternative construction techniques such as full structure and reinforced earth. Although the resolution was defeated, the department began utilizing reinforced earth construction methods in the 1980s. Full structure methods, such as those used in most mountainous European countries, remain underutilized in the American West.

Legislation Co-Sponsored by Rep. Richards

Unsuccessful legislation co-sponsored by Rep. Richards would have established a legislative code of ethics and prohibited conflicts of interest, protected prime agricultural land, addressed the high prices of certain prescription drugs, taxed new subdivisions for fire protection, given counties more power to review subdivisions, provided for local public utilities districts (Montana is the only state that specifically outlaws public utility districts), held registered lobbyists accountable for unprofessional conduct, and assured transferability of credits between units of the Montana university system.

After serving from 1975 to 1977, Rep. Richards voluntarily retired. As Montana’s first state director of Common Cause, he stayed involved in the legislative process, continuing his work on open government issues and founding the successful Montana Lobbyist Disclosure Initiative.