National Conference of State Legislatures LEGISBRIEF LEGISBRIEF LEGISBRIEF National Conference of State Legislatures National Conference of State Legislatures Briefing PaPers M ay 2012 2013 September on the imPortant issues of the Day Briefing PaPers on the imPortant issues of the Day Briefing PaPers on the imPortant issues of the Day V o l . 20, Nlo.. 21, 17 No. 36 Vo No Child Left Behind: the Next Chapter Electronic AccessWriting and Financial Disclosure By Natalie O'Donnell Wood By Lee Posey and Michael Reed Why File Financial Disclosures? In all but three states, legislators, other public officials Did You Know? • Thirty-eight percent of schools failed to make Did You Know? adequate yearly progress • Ohio’s online financial disunder NCLB in 2011. closure archives date back to 1994. • NCLB has governed federal education policy for the • Online e-filing systems past decade. are required in 10 states, Florida joining the list • with Eleven states received by 2015. waivers from various provisions of NCLB this February. • In at least 13 states, stat- • utes Twenty-six more states require that the public have applied for waivers. have online access to leg- islators’ financial disclosure forms. The lastsometimes, reauthorization of the Elementary and disclose Secondary Education Act wasabout on Jan. 8, personal and, public employees, must some information their 2002, when President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). financess. Many states have justified the need for disclosures in statute. Pennsylvania, for Before NCLB, the federal government’s role in education was limited to provided additional example, notes that, “in order to strengthen faith and confidence” in government, the public resources to targeted groups of disadvantaged students—the homeless, those living in dire has a right to “be assured that the financial interests of (office holders) do not conflict with poverty, and those needing special education. Grant conditions for these federal funds apthe public trust.” Colorado and Texas similarly mention that financial disclosures lead to plied to specific activities in specific programs. trust and confidence in government. NCLB—with 1,000 pages of statutes and 1,000 pages of regulations—changed all that. As often-cited to students financialindisclosure is that itnot enables filersintoschools examine and its Another name implies, the lawbenefit affects all all public schools, just those reviewTitle potential areas where their private interests and interventions, public serviceconsequences may intersect. North receiving 1 funds. It prescribes school, district and state statute says that,targets, “the purpose of disclosure…is to testing identifyand and avoid conflicts of forCarolina’s failing to meet proficiency and teacher qualifications. Its reporting interest and potential conflicts system of interest privateininterests and public duties.” The requirements and its accountability applybetween to all students all schools that receive federal funding from the law. statute further holds public officials accountable by calling on them to “take an active, thor- ough, and conscientious role in the disclosure and review process.” Washington’s Public Dis- Forclosure example, every student must reach proficiency math“stem and reading/language arts and by the biblical Commission tells filers that disclosureinlaws from common law 2014, measured by statewide annual standardized tests. And every school must show Adcaution that ‘no man can serve two masters.’” equate Yearly Progress in students' test scores or face penalties that increase in severity each year, frome-file? allowing parents to transfer their children to a different school to Institute allowing the Why Groups such as the Sunlight Foundation, the National for Money and state or a private education firm to take over the school. In 2011, more than a third of all State Politics and the Center for Public Integrity support and promote easily accessible, and schools failed to show this progress. even searchable, online financial information about public officials. They argue that open access to such information is critical to educating the public about whom or what influences Federal Action their elected officials. North Carolina’s Ethics Commission has noted that “public scrutiny Although NCLB was supposed to be reauthorized in 2007, and congressional leaders on of these documents allows the public to see for themselves that their public officials are free both sides of the aisle and in both chambers agree that doing so should be a priority, no from impermissible or undue influence of their public duties.” compromise has yet been reached. The Senate committee crafted a large, comprehensive bill while the House committee produced a package of several smaller bills addressing specific Why Not? Privacy concerns often-debated of financial disclosure—concerns issues. The most important thing are bothanchambers agree onaspect is eliminating the Adequate Yearly that are magnified when information must be freely available online. Policymakers Progress requirement in favor of allowing states the flexibility to create their own account- have discussed the risks associated with entrusting a third-party vendor with sensitive financial inforability standards. mation, how to protect officials who have filed restraining orders, and the appropriateness ofSenate revealing information minor others. concerns about safety, The bill and the Houseabout package differchildren, on issuesamong of common coreCiting academic standards, national security education and financial security, 2013 recommendations bycould the National Academy of school restructuring, funding and teacher accountability, which complicate coming agreement on a reauthorization proposal any time soon. The House proposal, PublictoAdministration successfully urged Congress to rescind requirements that for would have example, would prohibit the federal fromemployees offering incentives or coercmade disclosure information ofgovernment certain federal availabletoinstates an online, searchable ingdatabase. them to adopt the common core standards, while the Senate bill would encourage states Lack of resources, combined with the sheer volume of reports received, also can to make adopt the the common transitionstandards. to online systems and electronic record retention a difficult goal. National Conference of State Legislatures Executive Director T. Pound NationalWilliam Conference of State Legislatures National Conference State Legislatures Executive of Director William T. Pound Executive Director William T. Pound Washington, D.C. 444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 515 Washington, D.C. 20001 Denver, 80230 The entities withColorado oversight of financial disclosure vary from ethics commissions, to the secPhone (202) Phone (303) 364-7700 retaries of state, to legislative bodies or clerks of the chamber.624-5400 These entities provide at least Washington, D.C. Denver www.ncsl.org 444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 515 7700 East First Place Denver80230 Washington,Washington, D.C. 20001 D.C. Denver, Colorado North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 515 7700 East First Place Phone (202)444 624-5400 Phone (303) 364-7700 Washington, D.C. 20001 Denver, Colorado 80230 www.ncsl.org Phone (202) 624-5400 Phone (303) 364-7700 www.ncsl.org Denver State Action 7700 East First Place some information online—typically filing instructions and frequently asked questions. Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia make blank or sample forms accessible online for legislators. Legislators in 22 states can file using an online database. Finally, legislators in many states can scan and email their forms to the appropriate entity. In South Dakota, forms cannot be accepted electronically because the secretary of state’s office requires them to be notarized. Alabama has offered e-filing for all state public officials and employees since 2009, and was required to implement an e-filing system in 2012; 88 percent of statements are now are filed via that system. Officials say that, in prior years, they were able only to alphabetize the tens of thousands of forms they received. The e-filing and online database has helped the staff of the small commission better manage its workload and has provided more organization and available data to those interested in reviewing documents. In at least 29 states, the public can access completed legislator financial disclosure forms online. Florida and New York passed laws granting online access in 2013. The duration of online retention of these records differs, but at least 20 states and the District of Columbia have online records for previous filing years in addition to the most recent forms. In other states, requesters can receive information electronically. A 2006 Delaware attorney general ruling declared that the ethics commission must provide electronic reports to those who request them by email, although the decision stopped short of requiring that all completed forms be posted online. Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB) must obtain the identity of anyone examining a statement of economic interest and notify the pertinent official of his or her identity. As a result, completed forms are not posted online. However, the board has created an index called “Eye on Financial Relationships,” in which public officials are cross-referenced with various sources of income, such as employers, clients and real estate. According to the GAB’s website, the purpose of the index is “to identify to which businesses and individuals an official is tied financially – the focus is on financial relationships – not on wealth.” To address privacy concerns, entities with oversight of financial disclosure laws use a few protection tools. Laws, rules or commission policy often prescribe the redaction of certain types of information, such as addresses and names of clients and children. Other states provisions are similar to Wisconsin’s, where those who wish to view financial disclosure information must supply identifying information. Kansas, one such state, takes a different approach. Forms are available online, but requesters, like filers, must electronically submit a message to the ethics commission to receive an automatically generated user name and password. This enables access to filed statements. In Oregon, those who wish to review legislators’ disclosure forms can access an online form, which they must send in to the ethics commission. In Rhode Island, constituents are advised to email the ethics commission in order to receive the documents via email. NCSL Contacts Natalie O’Donnell Wood NCSL—Denver (303) 856-1485 Peggy Kerns NCSL—Denver (303) 856-1447 Additional Resource National Academy of Public Administration. The Stock Act: An Independent Review of the Impact of Providing Personally Identifiable Financial Information Online. March 2013. NCSL. Ethics Commission Contact Information. December 2012. The information contained in this LegisBrief does not necessarily reflect NCSL policy.