CLICK HERE TO WATCH PHX MAYOR GREG STANTON TALK ABOUT SEN LEWIS!
State Capitol, Phoenix
“For
too long, our legislative activities—including meals with lobbyists—have been
hidden behind a confusing curtain of unclear rules and an antiquated public
database—but no longer,” Senator Lewis declared. “This proposal aims to shine
the light of transparency on the legislative process and ensure that the public
has the information it needs to hold elected officials
accountable.”
When
enacted, Senator Lewis’s proposal will establish an online interactive database
on the Secretary of State’s website and require that lobbyists and legislators
use the site to independently
disclose any meal, event ticket, or other event paid for by a lobbyist in the
course of legislative advocacy, thus creating a checks-and-balance system that
holds both parties in the transaction accountable for its disclosure. As
currently envisioned, this innovative online tool will significantly enhance
legislative transparency by:
- Providing up-to-date tracking of lobbyist expenditures
- Requiring real-time reporting by lobbyists and legislators
- Making both reporting and searching easy with a simple interactive tool
- Allowing the public to search for disclosures by legislator, lobbyist or client
- Simplifying the reporting process for legislators and lobbyists
Under
Senator Lewis’s plan, lawmakers and lobbyists will use the website to report any
expenditure that is required to be disclosed by state statute. Lawmakers will be
required to disclose the event and the lobbyist with whom they met, while
lobbyists will be required to disclose the legislator and the client they were
representing.
“While
lobbyists are currently required to disclose virtually any transaction they make
on behalf of an elected official, current statute only requires those
transactions to be disclosed every three months, after which they are displayed
on a technologically obsolete database that provides very little practical
information to the public,” Senator Lewis explained. “This proposal aims to fix
these shortcomings and bring the state’s database into the 21st
century.”
Senator
Lewis’s plan has already received the backing of some of Arizona
“Having previously identified needed areas
of reform, I am encouraged by Senator Lewis’ proposal that we will undertake
steps necessary to reform reporting requirements and mechanisms,”
County Attorney Bill Montgomery said. “I look forward to working with Senator
Lewis in the upcoming legislative session.”
Arizona
State Senate President Steve Pierce (R-Prescott) announced that Senator Lewis’s
proposal would have his support. “I fully support Senator Lewis’s plan, which I
believe will enhance transparency and strengthen the public’s trust in their
elected officials.”
State
Senator John McComish (R-Ahwatukee) echoed Pierce’s remarks. “I am glad to see
Senator Lewis take on this critical issue and will be proud to co-sponsor the
legislation when it is formally introduced in January.”
“In
Phoenix we've taken active steps to make sure the public has full confidence
that decisions are made in the public interest, including improving transparency
and forming an ethics task force,” says Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. “The more we
can improve public confidence at all levels of government, including the state
legislature, the better off we'll be as a state.
Jack
Brown, a former Senate Minority Leader and longtime lawmaker, endorsed the
concept in Senator Lewis’s proposal. “Common sense is a rare thing at the State
Capitol, but this proposal makes sense to me. I would gladly vote for it if I
were still at the legislature.”
Senator
Lewis, who began working on this issue immediately upon taking office last
January, made it clear that he intends to sit down with members of the lobbying
community and elected officials before the next session begins to ensure that
his proposal is a consensus bill that enjoys broad support.
“I look
forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that this important piece of
legislation is among the first to pass in the upcoming legislative
session.”
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