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The commission's executive director said her staff had found much the same situation.

"More than 70 percent need additional information," said Brooke Miles, APOC executive director. Some of the omissions are relatively minor and can be cleared up with a phone call, she said.

For example, legislators must list real estate they own, or they must check a box saying they don't own any property.

"We want you to do one or the other," Miles said.

Frequently those little boxes don't get checked, leaving APOC's staff unsure whether the legislator failed to list property or simply failed to check the box.

There are similar check boxes for stock holdings, natural resource leases and other assets.

Many omissions appear to be simple oversights. Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Anchorage, failed to list his job as a legislator under "Sources of Income" one year.

More controversial has been listing income sources. The disclosure form asks for identification of the company paying a lawmaker and an explanation of the "nature of services provided."

Instructions call for the official to "provide enough detail when describing the nature of services to tell a reader what work was performed for the salary received."

Sen. Ben Stevens reported that oil field services company VECO Corp. paid him $57,000 last year for unspecified "business services."

To Miles and others that's not good enough. Nevertheless, Miles said there is no current law that would force Stevens to disclose more.

State Rep. Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage, wants to change that. She and Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, are planning to introduce bipartisan legislation to make sure voters get more information.

"You have to describe the work you are doing," she said.

One new regulation would require legislators doing outside consulting to identify how many hours they are working for each client.

The new rules wouldn't bar consulting, but would give voters more information about what candidates and legislators have been doing to earn the money.

"I think it's going to be great," Miles said of the proposed legislation. "People can cast a more informed vote."

Legislators are paid about $24,000 a year, and thus most depend on outside income. Gardner said her goal was to expose the outside income to public scrutiny.

"We are trying to let people who do honest consulting work keep doing it," she said.

New Gov. Sarah Palin campaigned on ethical government, and one of her first proposals was to provide APOC with an investigator to look into issues such as inadequate disclosure reports.

"We've had an investigator before and it really makes a big difference," said Miles, who welcomed the governor's proposal.

Some of the omissions are more serious than accidental blanks or fudged descriptions. Federal prosecutors have accused one legislator of simply lying on his disclosure reports.

Rep. Tom Anderson listed income from a company called Pacific Publishing on his disclosure reports and identified the nature of services provided as "web newsletter and news design."

Federal prosecutors who have indicted Anderson on bribery and other charges say there was no newsletter, and Pacific Publishing was simply a cover for bribes.

Gardner said her bill already has eight co-sponsors, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, and its prospects for passage look good this session.

A similar effort last year made it through the House's State Affairs Committee but died in the Judiciary Committee.

"I think the climate is much more conducive this year," said Gardner.

The year saw several national ethical scandals and FBI raids on some state Capitol offices.

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee last year was Rep. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage. She is married to Anderson. In November, McGuire was elected to Stevens' seat in the Senate after Stevens chose not to run for re-election.