Often in sports, when a team finds a way to use a violation to its best advantage, the rules committee changes the rules. So it should be for political campaigns. And, fortunately, several lawmakers gearing up for the 2008 legislative session are on-board for altering "business as usual" when it comes to campaign finance reform.

Unfortunately, getting campaign finance reforms through the state Legislature can be like ushering a cat through a dog pound.

On the upside, Rep. Greg Hughes would like to see fines for candidates who fail to file critical disclosure forms on time. Currently their names are simply lifted from the ballot or the candidate will get a judge to waive the penalty and allow them to be put on the ballot.

Rep. Sheryl Allen says that too many office holders also play shell games with disclosure reports. They refuse to list substantial contributors and expenditures on the initial report, then file an amended report after the election is over in order to avoid criticism and scrutiny.

The old saw is that if a private business ran its affairs the way the office holders run their public affairs, that business would be on the rocks within a month. The way lawmakers are playing fast and loose with the law when it comes to disclosure forms is a classic example. As others have pointed out, missing a deadline or playing fast and loose with paperwork should be a red flag for any voter looking to elect someone to public office. Such paper shuffling calls into question not only the honesty, but the competence, of future office holders. If they can't get one form in on time, how will they deal with the reams of paper that legislators must tackle every year?

The fines suggested would be stingers: $1,000 for filing a late report, with $50 added to that for each day after the deadline. A proposal also would ding candidates for amending reports.

These proposals, needless to say, will not sail through the Legislature. Chances are good, given recent history, they will not even limp through. But if the right people push them along, they would add much to the credibility of candidates and the confidence of voters.