The bill comes weeks after Sen. Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George’s, was censured by his colleagues for ethics violations and as new concerns are raised over Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola’s failure to disclose income he earned as a lobbyist.
Sen. Jamie Raskin, D-Montgomery, who is chair of the Special Committee on Ethics Reform created in January and is the sponsor of the bill, said Maryland is a leader in ethics reform but lags when it comes to Internet disclosure.
“All of the financial and ethics disclosure materials that we have are public information, but that’s really more theoretical than real,” said Raskin.
Currently, anyone seeking such documents has to travel to an Annapolis office during business hours to view those documents.
And:
Michael Lord, executive director of State Ethics Commission, testified that by mandating electronic disclosures the bill would accomplish what the commission has been attempting to do since 2005.
Here's a copy of this bill. Take a look -- and see who isn't covered under this ethics online bill: "providing that municipal corporations and boards of education are not required to post financial disclosure information on the Internet or to require that financial disclosure statements be filed electronically;" Because why should a public, taxpayer-funded agency that spends over $2Billion each year be subject to an ethics law?
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