The Office of State Ethics has bore the brunt of criticism on several occasions in this space during the past year. So it is only fair to duly note when it has done something worth praising.
The complaints lobbed at the office have mostly centered around one crucial topic: data.
Last summer, the charge against the office was that the data available for public perusal online hadn’t been updated in years.
When the data was updated, the problem from those seeking information was the 300- or 700-page PDF documents that bogged down searches and was generally a pain.
Those large files led to the most recent complaints from lobbyists that information was incorrect, with typos and mistakes that weren’t updated for months or years.
Consider these complaints heard and in one fell swoop, all those problems may have been erased for good.
New Online Feature
On the Web page for lobbyist data, there are a multitude of choices and reports to choose from, though most are the aforementioned PDF data. But on the bottom of the page is a relatively new feature that could bring any desired information to your computer screen in seconds.
Under lobbyist filings, the Office of State Ethics is now posting forms from businesses, organizations and lobbyists as they were submitted.
“It is supposed to be there for the public to see and it’s public information,” said Iris D’Oleo-Edwin, paralegal for the Office of State Ethics. “We wanted people to come to the Web site and be able to see it easily.”
The key word in D’Oleo-Edwin’s quote is “easily” because she said the office was keenly aware of its shortfalls when it came to posting data.
“We had a lot of people requesting information and they had a right to see that information,” she said.
Thanks to technology, the posting of data has become easier. State statutes now require lobbyists and their clients to file their information electronically. Because of this, the information is easily transferable to the Web site.
“The goal is to have the site be live with information,” said D’Oleo-Edwin. “I’m not an IT expert, but as soon as we receive the registration and forms, it should go right up on the database and on the Web site.”
The timeliness of posting data is good news for lobbyists, as a common grudge has been that incorrect information, especially concerning clients whose relationships have ended, remains public well after the fact.
Even on the current 702-page list of lobbyist. The last update was on Aug. 30, three months ago at this point. The lack of updates was attributed to the time-consuming process required to edit such a large document each time there was a change.
“With this system, we won’t have to put the information together to update,” said D’Oleo-Edwin. “It will be better because the records will go up immediately.”
She didn’t say if the PDF documents will stay, go or be modified, but it is clear the Office of State Ethics is doing what it can to help.
“We’ve always given that information out when it was requested because it’s public,” she said. “Now, they won’t have to request it, it will just be there.”
The forms posted will include client registrations, annual compensation, expenditures and total financial reports.
And there is one more tweak that makes the process of searching for information less of a pain. The reports are posted individually and can be brought up by company name, so no more trolling through 700 pages.
As a new addition, there are only a few reports up currently but more will be posted soon and it will be interesting to see how this initiative plays out.
Sean O’Leary is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.
