Pennsylvania's average disclosure law is the high point of campaign
finance disclosure in the state, with scores in the areas of
Electronic Filing, accessibility to data, and web site usability
in the D and F range.
Pennsylvania
law requires candidates to file two reports before each
election, plus an annual report in non-election years. Candidates
must disclose details about contributors who give $50 or more,
and occupation and employer information is required for contributions
over $250. Last-minute contributions of $500 or more must
be disclosed within 24 hours. Every expenditure must be
disclosed, but subvendor information is not required. Independent
expenditures are reported, as are last-minute independent expenditures
of $500 or more. Pennsylvania has voluntary electronic
filing for both statewide and state legislative candidates
and offers a web-based filing system free of charge.
Pennsylvania
has significant room for improvement in its efforts to
make official campaign finance information accessible to the
public in a meaningful way. Reports for all statewide
and legislative candidates are posted on the Department of State's
web site within a few days of being filed and go back to 1998,
but they can only be browsed, not searched. Considering
the amount of electronic data on the site, it is surprising
there are not more options for analyzing it online.
Fortunately,
there is an alternative to the official disclosure site. Since 1994, Pennsylvania State Representative Greg
Vitali, a strong advocate for online disclosure of campaign finance
data, has published a web site at www.pacampaigns.com with a
database of campaign finance records for statewide and state
legislative candidates. The purpose of Rep. Vitali's effort
is to demonstrate the ease and low cost of posting such
information online, and he has vowed to maintain his web
site until the state adds similar functionality to its official
site.
For
those without access to a computer, viewing reports in person
or asking for copies of the reports from the disclosure agency
are the only options for obtaining campaign finance information. Unfortunately,
paper records are difficult to access given the requirement
that a request to view the records be made in writing,
and it may take one to two weeks to get copies.
Pennsylvania
did well in the usability testing, reflecting the testers'
ability to easily find the official disclosure web site
and locate itemized contribution data online. The Department
of State site uses clear terminology and provides good descriptions
of campaign finance restrictions and disclosure requirements
in the state, but lacks other important contextual information. For
example, reporting periods are not included in the body of
the campaign finance reports on the site, making it difficult
to determine the time periods of each filing. There
is no “data history” description to explain exactly whose
reports are online and there are no lists of the total
amounts raised and spent by state candidates. Amended
reports are made available and are clearly labeled, but in
cases where amendments have been filed the original filings
have been removed, making it more difficult for site visitors
to determine which information has changed in the newer filing.
