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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Davis: Sunshine Law a priority for Otter

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, center, told the Senate State Affairs Committee on Monday morning that Gov. Butch Otter sees enacting financial disclosure legislation as a priority this session, and helped craft the bill Davis is co-sponsoring, SB 1156. (Betsy Russell / The Spokesman-Review)
Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, center, told the Senate State Affairs Committee on Monday morning that Gov. Butch Otter sees enacting financial disclosure legislation as a priority this session, and helped craft the bill Davis is co-sponsoring, SB 1156. (Betsy Russell / The Spokesman-Review)

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, who is co-sponsoring legislation to give Idaho its first financial disclosure requirements for public office-holders and candidates, told the Senate State Affairs Committee this morning that not only was it a priority for both the minority and majority leadership in the Senate, it's also a priority for Gov. Butch Otter. "In our majority leadership meetings with Gov. Otter, it became apparent at the beginning of the session that this was an item he, too, wanted to solve during this legislative session," Davis said. Idaho is now one of only three states with no such requirements. Because of that desire, Otter assigned his chief legal counsel, David Hensley, to work with Davis and Senate Minority Leader Kate Kelly, D-Boise, on developing the bill. As a result, Davis said, "It has Gov. Otter's, not only his encouragement, but also his fingerprints on some of the language."

The bill, SB 1156, would require elected officials and candidates to disclose their sources - though not amounts - of income and major Idaho assets. "We are disclosing, with this legislation, a little more about who we are," Davis said. Idahoans treasure their privacy, he said. But, he said, "I felt that on balance this was probably something that was in Idaho's best interest to do."



Eye On Boise

News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.