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The State of Disclosure in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania earned a C+ again and ranked
25th in 2008, up from an F and ranking 34th
in 2003. Pennsylvania was one of the most improved
states in Grading State Disclosure 2007,
and again improved slightly in terms of web
site usability in 2008 while also retaining
a top ten ranking in the accessibility category.
Pennsylvania’s
disclosure law earned a B and ranked 18th
in the 2008 assessment. Candidates must report
details about all contributors of $50 or
more, with occupation and employer data disclosed
for donors of $250 or more. Last-minute contributions
and late independent expenditures must be
reported prior to Election Day. Expenditure
disclosure includes reporting of accrued
expenditures, but subvendor reporting is
not required. Pennsylvania’s electronic
filing program is voluntary for statewide and
legislative candidates, though once a campaign
files electronically, it must continue to do
so in the future. One-third of candidates chose
the electronic filing option in the last election.
Pennsylvania
ranked 10th and earned an A again in the
Disclosure Content Accessibility category
in 2008. The Department of State’s web
site features HTML displays of both electronic
reports and paper-filed reports that have been
data-entered by agency staff, and searchable
databases of contributions and expenditures
contain both types of filings. Pennsylvania’s
databases are among the most comprehensive
in the nation, allowing site visitors to search
by multiple fields (such as donor name, employer,
or zip code) and sort their results online.
Site visitors can also download itemized data
found within specific campaign reports into
a spreadsheet for offline analysis. Electronically-filed
reports are available online the day of the
filing deadline and
reports filed on paper are typically available
within 72 hours of receipt.
Pennsylvania
improved from a D+ to a C- in 2008 in the
web site usability category as the result
of easier navigation from the state homepage
to the disclosure site than in 2007. While
the state slid four places in the rankings
as other states made larger gains, Pennsylvania
performed well again on the 2008 usability
test. The Department of State’s web site
provides detailed explanations of the data
available online as well as instructions for
using the various search tools. The agency
is exploring the possibility of redesigning
the disclosure system and could improve on
the current features by providing the specific
starting and ending dates of each reporting
period within the index of a candidate’s
reports, and by publishing overviews of campaign
financing trends in Pennsylvania.
→ Quick
Fix: Provide a simple
comparison of the totals raised and
spent by candidates for each office
in the most recent election.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: The “Frequently
Asked Questions” page
provides a thorough description of the
data available, including which candidates'
files are accessible online, and the
reports and the time period covered by
the database. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: Department of State
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.dos.state.pa.us
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