Travel memories

Lawmakers struggle with simple reporting forms

Every couple of years, a collection of Arkansans who are public spirited, ego driven or both go down to the secretary of state’s office to register as candidates for state Senate or the House of Representatives. Then they spend the following months telling anyone who will listen how they have the best ideas and are the most equipped to represent their neighbors in state government.

For weeks on end, they show up at charity events and service organization dinners eager to be introduced to a new batch of potential voters and to explore all the qualifications that recommend them to hold public office.

We have always been glad there are those willing to serve.

So, with all their touted qualities making them the right choices to lead this great state, why is it some collection of state lawmakers year after year repeatedly demonstrate an inability to follow simple directions or perform simple math?

Take, for example, state Rep. Jim Dotson of Bentonville, who accepted a $1,655 trip to New Orleans last year from a group called Ed Choice that attempts to help lawmakers advocate for school choice legislation. Dotson, in this year’s legislative session, sponsored a bill that would have given state taxpayer dollars to families for spending on their own educational choices. The bill failed.

Dotson failed, too, at least in the sense of meeting his ethical responsibilities to disclose the advocacy group’s spending on his personal financial disclosure report filed last January. Well, he did end up reporting it on May 26, only after a reporter called him to find out why it wasn’t disclosed.

“It was an oversight,” he said. “I thought it was on there. I’ll have to get it corrected.”

The Statement of Financial Interest report asks lawmakers to “list each nongovernmental source of payment for your expenses for food, lodging, or travel which bears a relationship to your office when you appear in your official capacity when the expenses incurred exceed $150.”

That’s a pretty straight-forward requirement, or it should be for the folks who promote themselves as the men and women best suited to set the political course for their fellow Arkansans. But following such simple instructions appears to be a little too daunting.

Ask Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, about it, too. A day after Dotson amended his filing for 2016, Ballinger amended his to show Ed Choice paid for his hotel, meals and travel expenses totaling $1,619.92 to attend the New Orleans conference last August. Hearing Ballinger’s explanation, one starts to think the lawmakers should attend an “educational” workshop on improving their memories.

“I made an error on it. Somehow it slipped my mind when I filled out the Statement of Financial Interest,” said Ballinger.

Wonder how many sessions on the subject of supporting public education they attended. But our minds wander.

Let’s not pretend Ballinger and Dotson are the only lawmakers whose memories get faulty when it comes to financial disclosures. Almost every year brings some revelation that lawmakers accepted a trip or a gift that is only disclosed once they’re reminded of the responsibility. A suspicious mind might suggest lawmakers have some reason they don’t initially disclose the information on the annual forms, which almost always lead to news stories exploring which groups spent money for such “educational” trips.

It is important that lawmakers reveal these monied influences. Let’s not pretend the legislation filed in Little Rock just magically appears. They are often modeled after bills introduced elsewhere and advanced by interests outside Arkansas. It’s only fair their fellow Arkansans who put them into office should get a glimpse into who, beyond the lawmakers’ constituents, is wielding influence.

Is it rude to bring up such matters involving our public servants? Have we lost our manners?

They just slipped our minds.