You can pay your bills, do your grocery shopping or buy airline tickets on the Internet. When it comes to the public's right to know who pays for political campaigns, we're living in the stone age. Surely political information that cuts to the heart of the democratic system is at least as important as the commercial information that's already on line. Electronic filing would give Texans from El Paso to Texarkana access to basic information about who funds their elected officials' campaigns. While Texas law requires campaign finance reporting, most candidates just file paper reports with the Texas Ethics Commission in Austin.
Disclosure delayed is disclosure denied.
Today's system denies most of us access to information when we want it and need it. The end result is that the public is usually kept in the dark. Lawmakers could exclude modest campaigns that fall below a very low fundraising threshold, given that these campaigns may lack the resources to produce computerized records. Under pressure from the Houston Chronicle and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram earlier this month, Governor George W. Bush filed some of his contributions reports electronically. Top Statewide Candidates Office Governor Lt.