Madison - Ethics data from 2,500 state and local officials would get harder for citizens to obtain under a budget amendment that has drawn criticism from both a free-market conservative and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The change approved on a 12-4 party-line vote by GOP legislators on the Joint Finance Committee would end the practice of emailing citizens copies of financial disclosure forms made by public officials. The amendment might also take down an online index of the information on those forms, which is meant to help the public identify possible conflicts of interest.

Brett Healy, president of the MacIver Institute, a free-market think tank in Madison that has posted some of the forms to its website, said he was still examining the effect of the provision but was concerned about it. The amendment will still need to be approved by the Assembly and Senate and Gov. Scott Walker as part of the 2011-'13 budget bill.

"If in fact the provision does dial back transparency, it's very disappointing and not needed. We need more transparency, not less," Healy said.

Healy said the forms on his site - representing just a fraction of the total filed with the state - were viewed by about 5,000 people after being posted last July.

The forms - called "statements of economic interest" - cover all state elected officials; Walker cabinet appointees and agency division heads; judges; and appointees to state boards ranging from influential ones such as the Department of Natural Resources to others overseeing professions such as beauticians. The disclosures contain information about public officials' investments, loans and business interests.

That information can help the public identify possible conflicts of interest, such as whether a lawmaker could stand to profit from a bill that would benefit a business in which he or she has an ownership stake.

In the past, the documents have helped reveal that Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) owned stock in strip club and pornographic website companies and that Annette K. Ziegler had presided as a circuit judge over cases involving West Bend Savings Bank, where her husband sat on the board of directors. The Supreme Court later reprimanded Ziegler, now a Supreme Court justice, for that, and Cowles later sold his stock.

Second look possible

Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), co-chairwoman of the Joint Finance Committee, said GOP lawmakers were seeking to protect public officials' privacy as well as information that could help their business competitors. She said she was willing to review the decision.

"I didn't realize that this would generate so much controversy," Darling said. "Any time there's a decision made and others feel differently, we can definitely look at it."

Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said last year the agency filled 56 requests for the conflict-of-interest statements, including some requests that covered multiple officials. He said the overwhelming majority were delivered as emails.

To receive the forms, the requester already must send a request with their name to the agency and then wait to receive the form. The public official is notified that the request has been made and receives the name of the person who made it.

Under the proposal, the requester would have to review or pick up the statements "or any information contained therein" in person at the accountability board office.

Chris Ahmuty, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said that he was concerned that would leave the accountability board unable to put any of the information from the statements on the Internet.

Currently, the accountability board cannot post the statements for individual public officials on its website. But the agency is able to post an index that allows the public to see which lawmakers own stock or have other financial interests in a given company.

Ahmuty said he believes that the index would also have to be taken down if the measure passes. He has called on lawmakers to drop the changes to the program.

"Requiring residents from across Wisconsin to travel hours to Madison and back home to learn about the significant financial relationships of their public officials will make it impossible for many people to exercise their rights," Ahmuty wrote to legislators.

Some media outlets and other groups have requested the statements of some public officials and put that information online so that citizens can access it instantly without having to give their names. But they have generally only posted some of the statements on file with the state.

Healy, for instance, said that last year the MacIver Institute posted the statements of all 132 state lawmakers and plans to do so again with the current crop of lawmakers. But legislators account for just one in 20 of the public officials who are required to file the financial disclosures.

Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), the other Joint Finance Committee co-chairman, has said he believes his private popcorn company has lost business because competitors made use of customer information he included in his financial disclosures.

Healy said if that was the case, he would prefer to see the law changed to prohibit using information in the statements for commercial purposes.