Lawmaker criticizes forms, secretary of state agrees fine-tuning needed

Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2000 | 10:17 a.m.

Beers, R-Las Vegas, an accountant, added the disclosure forms crafted by Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller fail to fulfill the intent behind new campaign finance reform laws.

"There is a piece of it that appears to violate the regulations that the secretary of state has drawn up," Beers said. "I am not saying there is a woeful violation, but that somebody just made a mistake."

"We make it more complex than it needs to be," Beers added. "This is not rocket science."

Heller said that Beers is mistaken and the disclosure forms adhere to legislation and rules governing campaign finance. But he agreed that the forms should be made simpler and more complete.

Also, Heller said Beers declined to provide feedback when Heller circulated a draft of the forms to lawmakers before distributing them to state and local candidates across Nevada earlier this year.

The misunderstanding is the latest wrinkle surrounding the campaign-disclosure forms and the confusion they've generated among candidates, campaign treasurers and state officials for much of the past 10 years, Beers said.

Nearly every election season, the forms are updated by state officials intent on remedying problems, but the forms have been criticized again and again for being incomplete or complex.

Instead of showing the beginning and ending balance in a campaign fund on one easy-to-read form, Heller's system uses three different documents that are filed with county election officials at different times of the year.

They disclose different aspects of the campaign's cash flow over a two- or four-year period depending on which office a candidate is seeking. In some cases, a voter would need to obtain all three forms and perform calculations to figure out the cash balance in an incumbent's campaign, Beers said.

Heller said he has led efforts to reform Nevada's campaign-finance laws, which now require disclosure of contributions that were hidden from the public a few years ago. He said he too wants to fine-tune the forms.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, chairwoman of the Election Procedures Ethics Committee, echoed Heller and Beers in saying further revision is needed.

"Both Bob and Dean are right, and it's something we have wrestled with in hope of making them (the forms) more user-friendly," she said.

Beers, former treasurer for the state Republican Party, said he'll propose a bill he hopes will clear up confusion and make the Legislature's intention immune to misinterpretation.

Instead of legislation that explains in words the content and intent of the form, Beers' bill will include a copy of a new form that will clearly display the balance in a campaign treasury.