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Time to shine a light into state committee darkrooms

Originally published in the Capital

Government Transparency

by Marta Hummel Mossburg

OP-EDS

How a legislator votes on a final bill is important. But how that person votes in committee often provides more information about his or her real views on the legislation and reflects whether votes could have been traded to reach the final product.

As Del. Elizabeth Bobo, D-Howard, said, "In Annapolis, so much happens before legislation gets to the floor. It is in the public interest if that process is transparent."

Given that state taxpayers have no money to spare this year, being able to observe how legislators use existing resources is especially important. The fact that Maryland is a one-party, Democratic state also makes the proposed Legislative Voting Sunshine Act, sponsored by Del. Saqib Ali, D-Montgomery, particularly important because it does not let those in power control information.

Committee votes are available on paper to those who arrive in person during business hours in Annapolis. But that means only people who do not work or are able to take off time to drive to the capital can find out how Maryland government operates.

Marjorie Slater-Kaplan, Advocacy Chair of the League of Women Voters in Maryland, said her group encourages members throughout the state to be involved in the legislative process. But, unless members live close to the capital, "It's hard to be a citizen lobbyist," she said.

Slater-Kaplan said the league has lobbied the governor and comptroller for years to pass similar legislation to no avail and is glad the bill will be considered this year.

Unlike other transparency legislation requiring new databases to function, Ali's Legislative Director Merry Eisner said he wanted to do this in the "simplest, easiest way possible" and will use existing technology to make it work. Eisner said Ali is crafting a way for votes to automatically load to the General Assembly Web site in the same way final bill votes are posted.

As the outcome of transparency legislation passed in the 2009 legislative session shows, simple and cheap could be the difference between following the law or ignoring it. The State Funding Accountability Act (HB 1192 / SB 556) passed earlier this year would have made it possible to see how the more than $900 million taxpayers spend on nonprofits and for-profits is used in an online searchable database. Because of budget constraints, Gov. Martin O'Malley's office said the project will not be pursued.

A simple Excel spreadsheet would do the trick, but crafting legislation that did not give anyone an excuse to dismiss it is better still.

The act would be even better if it sought to post subcommittee votes online as those committee chairmen often use tallies without recording how individual members vote. Why it is even possible for committee chairmen to use tallies under existing law is questionable.

According to the Open Meetings Act Manual, "The General Assembly's statement of legislative policy speaks of the public's entitlement 'to witness the phases of the deliberation, policy formation, and decision making of public bodies ...' 10-501(b)(1). 'In this regard,' the Court of Appeals has stated, 'it is clear that the Act applies, not only to final decisions made by the public body exercising legislative functions at a public meeting, but as well as to all deliberations which precede the actual legislative act or decision, unless authorized by [the Act to be closed to the public.' ''

In my reading, that means legislators should not be able to hide their votes. But passing the bill "is not about playing gotcha," as Ryan O'Donnell, executive director of Common Cause in Maryland, said. Neither is it a partisan issue, as the long list of legislative co-sponsors from each party on previous transparency legislation shows. Passing it would show legislators respect the people's right to scrutinize their government and make informed decisions.

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The writer is a senior fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute and lives in Baltimore. Her e-mail is mmossburg@mdpolicy.org.