A little more than a year ago, Jana Della Rosa came to suspect she was in an uphill struggle in her effort to require state lawmakers and those running against them to file campaign finance records electronically.
Arkansas requires those campaigning for the General Assembly to file details of their campaign fundraising and spending with the Secretary of State's Office. Although electronic filing is available, few use it. The reports can be handwritten if the lawmaker so chooses. And this terrible system does little to advance its very purpose for existing: to give the public an opportunity to see who is financially backing the candidates seeking their votes.
What’s the point?
Lawmakers should support state Rep. Jana Della Rosa’s effort to promote modern accountability for state candidates.
In this age of smartphones, remote officing and communication capabilities unimagined just a few years back, it's ludicrous that campaign finance information isn't handled electronically so that the public can easily access it. Della Rosa sought to change that in 2015 in her first term.
"I didn't realize this when I started this," Della Rosa, a state representative from Rogers, told her colleagues as they debated her bill last year, "but I think one of the hardest things to do in this building is to get people to change their own behavior. I realize that's what I'm asking everybody in this room to do, but I'm asking you to do it for a very good reason. We do not have campaign-finance transparency in Arkansas today."
And when the 2015 regular session of the Arkansas General Assembly ended, Arkansas still didn't have it.
Della Rosa's bill failed. Incredibly, some lawmakers argued they found such technologically advanced ways of doing things daunting. "I may not be smart enough to do this online," Rep. Dave Wallace, R-Leachville, said at the time.
As it turns out, those concerns were less about the intellectual brawn of some lawmakers and more about the state's antiquated computer-based reporting system lawmakers have the option to use. Only a handful actually use the system, which has a reputation for being slow and untrusted.
Della Rosa, who is nothing if not determined, is back during the current fiscal session. Her proposed House Bill 1138 would allocate up to $750,000 to upgrade the state's online system so that it's easier for candidates to file information electronically and for the public to access it. She plans to follow up next year, in the General Assembly's next regular session, with a bill to require electronic filing.
Della Rosa says the current system "is not very good," so fixing the problems with the software must be the first part of the solution.
Arkansas, unfortunately, is pretty far behind on a modern approach. At least 31 other states mandate electronic disclosure, according to the state Bureau of Legislative Research. And any state serious about public accountability will not resist a drive to improve the system and, ultimately, to require candidates to file electronically. The system would also house spending reports for political action committees, lobbyists and other public information.
As with anything related to technology, there's a cost, and that may give some lawmakers heartburn. We recommend a good antacid and a vote in favor of Della Rosa's bill, because it's the right thing to do for Arkansans. The political system needs accountability. This bill is an important step to advance Arkansas into 21st century accountability.
Now that we're 16 years into that century, it's about time our expectations for political transparency catch up.
Commentary on 04/30/2016