Lawmakers: Idaho ‘uniquely poised’ to make major upgrades in its campaign disclosure system
Idaho is “uniquely poised” to make major improvements in its campaign disclosure system, Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, co-chair of the Legislature’s ethics and campaign finance working group, declared at the close of today’s meeting of the panel. “There’s a real sense or a sentiment in the Legislature that we need to do a better job of disclosure and sunshine,” Wood said. “So I think there’s an opportunity here.”
With state revenues coming in strong and well ahead of forecasts, Idaho could fund a major improvement to the state’s reporting and disclosure system that could be easy for candidates to use, and easy for citizens to access – and give them real-time information about who’s spending how much for what in politics in Idaho. But the state will need significant system upgrades to do it, he said. “We’ve got money and we’ve got the will. And when we’ve got those two things, we can accomplish a lot – and we want to do that while the iron’s still hot.”
Sen. Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs, said, “There’s a lot of stuff here to digest,” and said it should be taken “step by step.” He said, “I like the idea of a new platform,” and noted Ada County Chief Deputy Clerk’s earlier comment that a system that’s easy to comply with also is easy to enforce. “My campaign treasurer, she’s never done this before,” Harris said, “she’s my wife. And I want a plan or something that’s easy for her because then it makes it easy for me. I think that’s … what we should shoot for.”
Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, asked Secretary of State Lawerence Denney to work with the panel’s staffers to incorporate ideas brought up during today’s meeting into draft bills, and she and Wood also asked the panel members and anyone else who’s interested to send their input on the ideas to staffer Kristin Ford for inclusion in the discussions. Lodge said her big takeaways are simplification, and making sure to examine what the Secretary of State’s office needs to carry out any new reporting or disclosure requirements.
Denney said he’ll look into a request for information to give the panel more information on costs and capabilities for a new disclosure platform.
The panel set its next meeting for Oct. 18.
