Lobbyists Elizabeth Criner and Alex LaBeau have offered a long list of suggestions to the Legislature’s ethics and campaign finance work group to increase requirements for lobbyist and election reporting. Among them: Upgrade the online reporting systems, and ask the Legislature to appropriate money to do so, to make it both easy to report and easy for the public to get the information; LaBeau said the state would likely need to purchase software from a vendor. Require lobbyists to disclose regularly all year, not just during the legislative session. Require lobbyists for government entities to disclose just like those for the private sector. Require professional lobbyists who represent nonprofits without pay to disclose that, without requiring non-profit volunteers to disclose like professional lobbyists. Require anyone spending money on Idaho elections to disclose, regardless of their federal tax status. Clarify definitions of reportable events and expenditures, and make fines consistent for both individuals and PACs – they’re now $250 for individuals and $2,500 for PACs – and high enough to be a deterrent.

The two lobbyists also called for expanding the definition of electioneering communications to include email and social media; requiring disclosure of the decision-makers behind any PAC, not just the treasurer; requiring more reporting of expenditures in local elections, from sewer measures to school bond issues; and removing the 48-hour cutoff on reporting before elections, which LaBeau called “a giant loophole that needs to close.” Currently, campaign expenditures in the final day or two before voters go to the polls don’t get disclosed until well after the election.

LaBeau said campaigning now goes on year-round, not just in the months or weeks before the election, and Idaho’s reporting requirements should reflect that. “A whole lot’s going on and nobody knows about it,” he said. He added, "Trying to play hide the ball doesn’t do anybody any good. ... It really it paints a black eye on the state of Idaho."

Criner told the lawmakers, “We do believe that there are some updates that could be made that would improve the sunshine on the processes of our current government.”

Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, co-chair of the working group, told the two, “Wow, great presentation. We really appreciate the time and effort you and others have put together in order to come up with these suggestions, because for me, they really hit the nail right on the head.” LaBeau responded, “Thank you, Madam Chairman. We stand ready to help.”