MADISON - A local lawmaker is concerned about a bill that would require lawmakers to post their financial disclosure forms on the Internet.

Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Randall, said Monday that posting the information online would give too much information to critics who could find ways to harass lawmakers and steal their identities. Kerkman's district includes the city and town of Burlington in western Racine County.

Lawmakers and other public officials must file statements every year with the Government Accountability Board listing their investments, debts and business affiliations.

The goal is to allow the public to know about potential conflicts of interest. Currently, people who want to review the information have to go through the board and give their names to the officials.

A pending bill, introduced in June and supported by good government groups, would do away with that requirement and put the information online.

The bill aims to make records showing the financial holdings of state lawmakers and other public officials more accessible to the public.

The bill does it in two ways, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign: first, it clears the way for all of the statements of economic interest filed by state officials to be posted online and it gets rid of a requirement in current state law that officials be notified of the name and address of any citizen who wishes to examine the records.

Journal Times staff contributed to this report.