Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller has proposed a bill draft resolution for the 2013 legislature to increase the accountability of candidates and public officials.

Secretary Miller advocates changes to the current campaign finance laws to clarify who is required to disclose contributions and expenditures when making independent expenditures or electioneering communications. Other changes put forth include requiring reporting within 72 hours for contributions received in excess of $1000, allowing the Secretary of State’s office to seek greater authority and greater penalties for campaign finance violations, and requiring every expense made from a candidate’s campaign account to be report.

Additionally, the Secretary is proposing an overhaul of the law regarding gifts given to public officials in order to “significantly restrict the ability of candidates and public officials to receive ‘gifts’ from donors who may pose a conflict of interest”, according to a press release from the Secretary’s office.

Assemblymen Marcus Conklin and Pat Hickey, and senate candidate Sheila Leslie, have expressed interest in the ideas. The Nevada Legislature is scheduled to begin its next session on February 4, 2013.

Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller has announced the launch of a new searchable online database for the state’s campaign finance data. Named Aurora, the system began at midnight last night.

For more information read “Nevada Secretary Of State Launches Aurora, A Searchable Database For Campaign Finance Information” from the Nevada News Bureau.

According to the news release on the the Secretary of State’s web site:

The Contribution Search and Expenditure Search functions will allow users to search results by the following criteria:
– Individual Candidates
– Political Races
– Groups
– Contributions, including by amount, date range and similar addresses
– Contributors
– Expenditure Recipients