An appropriation bill filed Tuesday would pay up to $750,000 to upgrade the state's online campaign-finance reporting system.
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The intent is to make it easier for candidates to file the information and for the public to access it, said Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, who is sponsoring the bill.
"I don't care if it's Democrat or Republican. I don't care who it is. If you are outside these marble walls, you want this," she said. "I don't think I'm spending money in any way that the people of Arkansas don't want."
House Bill 1138 is set to be presented at the Joint Budget Committee today.
Della Rosa led an unsuccessful push to mandate electronic disclosure in the 2015 regular legislative session. During a floor debate, some lawmakers said spreadsheets were too confusing. Others said they lacked Internet access.
The state mandates that candidates file campaign-finance reports that specify who gave them money and how they spent it. The reports can be handwritten and need not be typed into a database or spreadsheet file. The secretary of state's office, which oversees elections, keeps the finance reports on file.
Arkansas already has a computer system that allows candidates to report their donations, but lawmakers say it's unreliable and donations have to be entered one at a time.
"I don't blame them," Della Rosa said. "It's not very trustworthy. It's not very good. It's not terribly useful on the back end, either, because you can't download everything out of it."
Downloading a complete database allows the public to more easily track campaign donations across candidates and races. Fixing problems with the software is a first step, Della Rosa said. She plans to introduce legislation during the next regular session in 2017 to mandate filing electronically whether a new system is funded or not.
"I'm not trying to make it mandatory right now," she said. "My hope is once they get this new system in place, the few people that didn't want mandatory online filing will say it's OK under this new system."
Secretary of State Mark Martin issued a request for proposals for such a system following a recommendation from the legislative Electronic Filing Systems for Campaign and Finance Reports Subcommittee.
"In January, we received a letter from the Arkansas Legislative Council requiring us to implement a new electronic filing system," said Chris Powell, Martin's spokesman. "We support and appreciate Rep. Della Rosa's appropriation because it would provide funding for that system."
GCR Inc. of New Orleans, which has provided similar systems in other states, was the only company to respond, Della Rosa said. Her bill calls for a $750,000 appropriation -- though the system should cost about $671,000. That covers the $576,000 bid, a licensing fee and maintenance for one year, she said.
Arkansas' new system would house political action committee reports, lobbyist reports and other public information in addition to donation records.
At least 31 states mandate electronic disclosure, according to the state Bureau of Legislative Research.
"The governor supports it," Della Rosa said of HB1138. "Without him, the speaker, or anyone else fighting it, I would hope it would pass through pretty easily."
Rep. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, said he supports the appropriation. In 2015, Tucker sponsored a bill, later defeated, that would have required "dark money" groups to disclose the identities of donors who spent more than $50.
A Section on 04/27/2016