the Star-Tribune staff | Posted: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - The House today approved on final reading a bill that would require political candidates to submit a record of their campaign contributions for publication on a proposed online state reporting system.
Wyoming is one of few states without a searchable, online system to track campaign contributions. Open-government groups consistently rank the state last in terms of access to campaign finance data.
House Bill 3 was crafted by Secretary of State Max Maxfield and state Elections Department. It includes a $2.5 million appropriation to create the system.
A last-minute amendment to the bill will require the state to include a training component to help candidates who aren't familiar with computers and the Internet.