Organizers of Oklahoma’s 100 Ideas Initiative should publicly disclose the program’s finances.

State Speaker of the House Lance Cargill, who came up with 100 Ideas, told the Phoenix Editorial Board this week that he did not believe the initiative is required to follow state financial disclosure standards by reporting who contributes to the enterprise and how much they contribute.

Cargill kicked off 100 Ideas earlier this month, soliciting Oklahomans to submit any idea they have to improve Oklahoma’s future. The initiative includes public forums to spur discussion of ideas on specific topics.

The end result will be, according to Cargill, a book of the best ideas that will be given to state legislators when they convene in 2008.

We like the idea behind 100 Ideas, but we don’t understand why organizers will not reveal what corporations, businesses and individuals are donating funds to make it happen.

Cargill said he did not believe the initiative needed to disclose its finances because it was a private enterprise and the proposed ideas will be as much for private enterprises and individuals as for government.

That’s fine.

But Cargill is a state legislator, soliciting ideas for the Legislature. The people heading this enterprise are former state officials — former representative Thad Balkman is the executive director and former Govs. David Boren, George Nigh and Frank Keating will serve as honorary vice-chairmen.

This is a very public enterprise that very well may produce legislation that provides state funding for enterprises involving private businesses, or it may place people at the helm of future state-funded projects.

We don’t think it will please Oklahomans for someone in late 2008 to reveal that the state approved a contract with a private business to develop one of the 100 ideas and that business had contributed to the initiative.

It seems prudent — even if not required by law, and even if the donors are few and the donations modest — for the initiative to make available the list of financial donors and their donations.