Let the Sun Shine On Votes

A movement toward greater openness and transparency in government spending is sweeping the country. Everything from voting records, to campaign finance disclosures, to government spending and contracting information is moving onto the Internet. Technology is transforming governments, making them more transparent and accountable, and allowing ordinary citizens to easily access information in order to become better educated and engaged in our democracy.

Virginia is no exception to this trend, with excellent information available in many of these areas. One egregious exception, however, is subcommittee votes in the House of Delegates, which are not recorded and therefore unavailable for public inspection in any form.

Subcommittee votes were, until three years ago, relatively inconsequential because they were not binding. Under the current rules, however, these votes are binding, and have been used repeatedly to kill controversial legislation without accountability to the public.

History shows us that these maneuvers are nothing new to the legislative process and both sides share in the blame. Likewise, they should share in the victory that would result from reform. After all, before the Democrats start pointing fingers at the GOP leaders, we should remember that it was then-Del. Clint Miller (R-Woodstock) who clamored for simple recorded committee votes at a time when Democrats met behind locked doors with armed guards posted outside.

CITIZENS deserve to know how their representatives vote to spend their hard-earned tax dollars and to regulate their lives. A secretive legislative process creates the perception -- or possibly even the reality -- of legislators cutting indefensible deals and making decisions that cannot stand up to public scrutiny, confident that most of their constituents will never know about it. Sometimes subcommittee meetings are held in the dead of night specifically to evade reporters and bloggers who would document the proceedings.

Supporters of secret subcommittee votes claim that it's too expensive to provide the staff and computer systems to report votes. That's an excuse. The chairman could easily jot down how each vote went himself, and it shouldn't be difficult or costly to add that information to the Legislative Information System.

It's true that full committee members can bring a motion to reconsider bills that were rejected in subcommittee. But that requires action, and if a secret deal was made in subcommittee, no one would be inclined to revisit the matter. Moreover, reviving a bill would likely lead to subcommittee again, which is why it's rarely done in practice.

Recording subcommittee votes and posting them on the Internet will help eliminate any perception of impropriety by ensuring that all votes cast by delegates are subject to public scrutiny. It will let us hold our elected representatives to higher standards, questioning their voting records more fully and drawing clearer contrasts between candidates.

TRANSPARENT government is good government. Government should have nothing to hide from the taxpayers who fund it. Government should be open to citizen input on how constantly to improve as stewards of the people's hard-earned tax dollars. A representative is elected to do just that -- represent the people. This should not be a partisan issue, and Americans for Prosperity is pleased to say that our reform effort has broad support from hundreds of influential members of both political parties.

We live in a democracy in which the political power emanates not from the top down but from the bottom up -- from the people. In order for the people to make informed decisions, they need access to accurate and complete information about what their elected representatives are doing.

One of our greatest Virginians, then-President Thomas Jefferson, wrote in an 1807 letter to James Monroe: "Ours, as you know, is a government which will not tolerate the being kept entirely in the dark."

When it comes to subcommittee votes, I hope all members of the House of Delegates understand what Jefferson and Monroe understood, because it's time to let the sun shine in.
Benjamin Marchi is Virginia state director for Americans for Prosperity. Contact him at (804) 380-9240 or visit on the Web at www.afpva.org.