As the Legislature’s ethics and campaign finance reform work group wrapped up its discussions this afternoon, Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, sounded a note of caution. “Some of these fixes are pretty good, if we get ‘em right, if we do ‘em the right way, and try not to make them too burdensome on candidates,” he said. “We don’t want to make it such a burden that it’s undoable, because then that automatically creates a hindrance for people who are interested in running for office. … The more complicated we make it, the more difficult it’s going to be to get people to run. ‘Cause there are a certain number of folks who say, ‘It’s too much detail, too much hassle for me – I’m just not going to do it.’”

House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, responded, “If campaign finance requirements are limiting people from running because it seems burdensome, I guess I’m OK with those people not running for office. Because if transparency is what we’re advocating for here, then this should be a very simple expectation, that you put forward what you spend, and you put forward what you bring in for money as a contribution.”

Erpelding added, “These are great ideas that will bring in more transparency of how we illustrate things on the website, but it doesn’t improve the teeth that we put into our laws.” He said he had documented evidence in the last election of illegal coordination between a campaign and an independent expenditure, but the state declined to pursue it, saying because the campaign employee involved was an unpaid volunteer, the two weren’t technically coordinating. “We were told there’s nothing that could be done,” he said.

Chief Deputy Secretary of State Tim Hurst told the lawmakers, “The definitions need to be tightened up. That’s our biggest obstacle in enforcing the sunshine law.”

Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, asked why tightening those definitions wasn’t included in draft bills that Denney presented to the committee today. “Shouldn’t we see that?” she asked. Denney responded, “What I’ve discovered is what starts out simple gets very complex. … That’s a big task.”