Electric Bills: Capitol’s On-Line Idaho Legislature Has Home Page On The Internet

David Kerrick, the Republican majority leader in the Idaho Senate, has a vision of the day when lawmakers turn on their computers, scan legislation and then read an electronic debate from citizens on both sides.

“I see all kinds of possibilities,” said the Caldwell lawmaker, who was among a handful of legislators who experimented with a laptop computer last year. “It occurs to me that a lot of lobbying could be done on the Internet.”

The possibilities begin Monday, when the Legislature convenes for the first time with Internet access. Lawmakers will be able to communicate electronically with one another and with the public. Citizens will be able to check on the status of legislation via the state’s “home page.”

The Capitol was connected to the state’s fiber-optic backbone in the spring, and many lawmakers have spent the past few weeks buying and borrowing laptops.

Fifteen members will carry laptops, and 50 will have access to the Internet through other computer systems. Four state-owned laptops will go out on weekly loan.

Ketchum Democrat Wendy Jaquet used her laptop on the House floor last year, to communicate with her business and her constituents via fax modem.

“It’s going to be much better this year,” she said. “This will help me to be able to do my job. But it will also allow me to let my constituents know when a bill is coming up. I hope it increases access.”

There’s a question, however, about whether this tool designed to provide instantaneous communication will actually limit citizen access.

The public-records law makes no distinction between paper and electronic communications. Lawmakers’ e-mail would be open to disclosure requirements, Deputy Attorney General Bill von Tagen said.

But he added the law also exempts certain communications from disclosure and does not require officials to keep records.

But the legislative information center will have a public e-mail address and will act as a gatekeeper, forwarding electronic messages.