(Dover) – As the last days of the General Assembly’s 2013 session wind down, Delawareans can follow the groups engaged on various bills with the Delaware Public Integrity Commission’s online Public Integrity Reporting System.

Legislation in 2012 (Senate Bill 185) mandated creation of a new online Public Integrity Reporting System and required additional functionality, including the ability to report lobbying activity tied to specific legislation and state initiatives. The new website, created by Delaware Interactive, LLC as part of the state’s eGovernment initiative, is available at depic.delaware.gov. It features a public search and explore feature that helps meet Governor Jack Markell’s goal of providing greater transparency and accessible data to the public. Anyone can see which lobbyists are engaged on each piece of legislation, as well as being able to view lobbyist client lists and financial disclosures.

“Citizens deserve to know who is lobbying and what they are lobbying for. This puts information in the public domain for online consumption,” said Governor Markell. “The new system is providing access to information that ensures ongoing transparency and accountability.”

“We’re committed to creating new and convenient eGovernment tools for Delaware,” said Greg Hughes, Director of the Delaware Government Information Center (GIC), which leads eGovernment efforts in the First State. “Governor Markell has directed us to look for ways to make government more efficient, effective and open; mobile apps and eGovernment tools like this one will help us meet that goal.”

The system includes tools to allow lobbyists and public officials to log-in and maintain their own reports and profiles. Public Integrity Staff oversee those reports using an administrative back-end management system. The application was developed with a ‘mobile-first’ approach in order to optimize viewing on cell phones and tablet devices.

About Delaware Interactive
Delaware Interactive is part of the eGovernment firm NIC’s (NASDAQ: EGOV) family of companies. Its focus is on accelerating the number of online services available to Delaware citizens and businesses through the state’s official portal, Delaware.gov. Additional information is available at www.egov.com/Partners/Pages/Delaware.aspx.

About NIC
NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV) is the nation’s leading provider of official government portals, online services, and secure payment processing solutions. The company’s innovative eGovernment services help reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies, citizens, and businesses across the country. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for more than 3,500 federal, state, and local agencies in the United States. Additional information is available at http://www.egov.com.

Three Bills Increase Government Transparency

HB 300, HB310, SB 185 Become Law

(New Castle, DE)  With lawmakers, Common Cause of Delaware, the Commissioner of Elections and other advocates for more open government gathered at Buena Vista State Conference Center, Governor Markell signed into law today three pieces of legislation that collectively increase transparency and provide greater and more timely information to the voters and residents of our state.  

“These three pieces of legislation, taken together, will make our state government more open, more transparent, and ultimately, more accountable to the people we serve,” said Governor Jack Markell. 

 The three bills are:

 House Bill 300, the Delaware Elections Disclosure Act , which represents the first major overhaul of Delaware’s campaign finance laws in more than 20 years. It closes a loophole with campaign advertisements, requires prompt reporting of third-party spending on campaign ads and requires greater disclosure from those who spend money to influence elections.  Effective January 1, 2013.

 House Bill 310, increases the penalties for late filing of elections disclosure reports from $50 a month to $50 a day; and $50 a day for incomplete campaign finance reports.  Effective immediately.

 Senate Bill 185, requires enhanced disclosure for lobbyists regarding the issues they are lobbying, inclusive of bills, resolutions and regulations.

Effective January 1, 2013.

 Senate President Pro Tem Anthony DeLuca, D-Newark, was the chief sponsor of the lobbying reform measure and was the lead Senate sponsor of the campaign finance legislation. Both measures, he said, play a key role in giving people important information.

 “It will be easier for citizens to track what lobbyists are doing in Dover, letting the public know who’s invested in the outcome of a bill,” DeLuca said. “Letting citizens know who’s paying for the kinds of negative attack ads that PACS and other outside groups have been able to hide behind in the past, helps them understand which organizations are trying to sway their vote.”

 House Majority Whip Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, said that the new campaign finance laws promote openness and increased transparency in political campaigns.

 “People deserve to know who is taking out political ads and donating to political campaigns,” said Rep. Longhurst, who sponsored the bill increasing penalties for filing late reports. “With technology, it is easier than ever for candidates to file campaign finance reports and for the public to view them. These laws are all about increased transparency and getting more information out to the public.”

 The Governor thanked Delaware lawmakers, saying, “change isn’t always easy and the changes we’re making today would not be possible without the hard work of many people.  These are important pieces of legislation and our lawmakers helped to make them reality.”

DOVER – In his weekly message, Governor Jack Markell talks about new legislation that would improve government transparency and citizens’ access to information by requiring that lobbyists specifically report on each piece of legislation, each area of the budget or the bond bill, or each proposed state agency regulation that they are lobbying to change and who they are talking with to try and make those changes. The Governor joined lead sponsor Senate President Pro Tempore Tony DeLuca, House Speaker Bob Gilligan and a bipartisan group of legislators this week to introduce Senate Bill 185.

“Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, ‘Sunlight is the best disinfectant,’ and that’s as true today as it was when he first said it,” Markell said. “Over the last several years, we’ve taken a number of important steps in Delaware to let the sunshine in so that the people of Delaware can have real knowledge of how laws are made and put together, and how regulations are proposed and enacted.”

Every Friday, the Governor’s office releases a new Weekly Message in video, audio, and transcript form.  The message is available on:

YouTube: http://youtu.be/bWc5oQp1mwc
Delaware.Gov: http://governor.delaware.gov/information/podcast_video.shtml
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Transcript for the Governor’s Weekly Message: Make Government More Transparent Through Lobbying Reform Bill

DOVER – A bill that would dramatically expand disclosure requirements for lobbyists was introduced today with broad bipartisan support. Governor Jack Markell joined Senate President Pro Tempore Tony DeLuca, House Speaker Bob Gilligan and legislators to introduce Senate Bill 185.

“How can you tell who’s working to influence the bills that could become the laws that will affect your life? The problem is, in many cases right now, you can’t, because state disclosure laws simply haven’t kept up. This proposal helps solve that problem, bringing needed light to the process,” Markell said. “As a Delawarean, you shouldn’t have to be in the lobby of Legislative Hall or in the offices of a state agency to know who’s trying to shape a law that matters to you. This bill would make that information more available.”

Currently, lobbyists only need to disclose that they are working for a client, but do not need to share what work they are doing on that clients behalf. Senate Bill 185 would require that lobbyists specifically identify each piece of legislation, each area of the budget or the bond bill, or each proposed state agency regulation that they are lobbying to change.

“This will enable people to go online and see who’s lobbying on a specific bill,” said DeLuca. “The intent is to make the information transparent so the public is given a better idea of lobbyists’ interests.”

The new disclosures must occur within five business days of the lobbyist having “direct communication” with a legislator or the Lieutenant Governor or Governor on a bill, or within same time frame from communication with a state agency employee regarding a proposed regulation. If the communication takes place before a bill is introduced or proposed regulation published, the disclosure will be within five business days of the bill introduction or regulation publication.

“Improving government transparency and public access to information has been a top priority of mine since I became Speaker in 2009,” said Gilligan. “In this age of technology, there’s no reason why the public should not be able to easily find out which lobbyists are lobbying for a particular piece of legislation. This will remove any perceived shroud of secrecy and give the public more information about the legislative process.”

The reporting by the lobbyists will be done electronically and all the reports will display on a public website. The Governor thanked Common Cause for their advocacy on this issue.

“A lobbyist who spends every day in the state capitol operates in a different reality than the average citizen. This bill opens an important window on what’s really going on in Dover, and it will make it much easier to track what lobbyists are doing and to hold them accountable,” said James Browing of Common Cause.