McGrane: ‘Have everybody report into the same space’
Phil McGrane, chief deputy clerk for Ada County, addressed the Legislature’s work group on ethics and campaign finance reform today, and demonstrated some data visualizations using free online tools based on campaign finance reports that lawmakers on the committee found fascinating – things like who gave the most to Idaho candidates in a particular election, or where in the state a particular group is doing its spending, or which party a particular vendor is mainly doing business with. “You could easily look up information and track ... who’s raising what money, who’s spending what money,” he said. “It sure is interesting when we make the data more accessible, what kind of things you can see here.”
“This all hinges on a good filing system,” he noted. “If you don’t have a good system underneath, then we’re just making bad data look pretty.”
McGrane said, “There’s no question, with the advent of software and technological tools … campaign finance reporting can really be revolutionized.”
He said, “The first step is evaluating the tools for compliance, and making it really easy.” But the state also will have to invest in the infrastructure, he said, along with the resources in the Secretary of State’s office to manage it. If Idaho goes with Secretary of State Lawerence Denney’s proposal to require campaign finance reporting in all local campaigns for candidates or measures when $500 or more is raised or spent, he noted, there needs to be a place where that data goes. Currently, Benewah County, for example, doesn’t have a website, he said.
As a county official, McGrane said, he believes Idaho should “have everybody report into the same space. Let’s make it so we can see who’s giving to who, and where that out-of-state money is going to.”
He said Idaho consolidated its elections several years ago, but hasn’t yet consolidated the campaign finance piece. “Bring it all together, and give the secretary of state the resources to manage it,” he said.
