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The State of Disclosure in California
California
improved from a B+ to an A, its highest grade
in the Grading State Disclosure series, and
ranked 2nd again in 2008. Strong gains made
in the usability category helped California
earn an A or B in all four scoring categories
for the first time since 2004.
California maintained the number one ranking
in the law category, and has earned an A in
this area in each of the five assessments.
Strengths of the law include detailed contributor
disclosure, including occupation and employer
data; last-minute contribution and independent
expenditure reporting; and strong enforcement
provisions. Candidates must report campaign
expenses, including those made by subvendors,
but California does not require campaigns to
report the dates of their expenses. California
earned an A- again for its electronic filing
program, which is mandatory for all statewide
and legislative candidates who raise or spend
$50,000.
After
earning an F in the accessibility category
in 2003, California has since earned an A in
this category and a place in the top ten in
each of the last four assessments, ranking
7th in 2008. All electronically-filed reports
are available on the state’s “Cal-Access” web
site going back to 2000, with new reports becoming
available online immediately upon filing. The
disclosure site features browsable PDF versions
of electronic reports, HTML displays of itemized
contribution and expenditure data, and searchable
databases of contributions and expenditures
that are among the best in the nation. Itemized
transactions can be sorted and downloaded through
both the searchable databases and HTML displays.
While most paper-filed disclosure reports are
not available online, the Secretary of State’s
office began scanning and posting paper-filed
late contribution reports to the web in 2008.
California’s usability grade improved
to a B+ and 7th place ranking in 2008, up from
a C and 19th in 2007. Improvements were driven
by the addition of a thorough instruction manual
for using the state’s disclosure web
site and a stronger performance on the 2008
usability test. Usability testers expressed
greater confidence in the data on the site
and rated their overall experience on the site
more favorably than testers did in 2007. The
new user’s manual offers a wealth of
information on both the contents of the web
site and information about the state’s
disclosure requirements. The site allows users
to easily compare campaign finances between
candidates and provides clear explanations
of what data is available online. To improve
further in this area, the agency could retain
original filings alongside amended reports,
rather than only listing the most recent amendment.
→ Quick
Fix: Provide better visual clues
for accessing and searching the online databases
by changing the label from “Advanced
Search” to “Search Contributions
and Expenditures”. This impressive
feature on the site could be easily missed
by site visitors due to the inconspicuous
placement of the link on the main page,
and a label that might be intimidating
to novice users.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: The Cal-Access Users
Manual offers excellent instructions to the
public about conducting both basic and advanced
campaign finance research. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: Secretary of State
Disclosure
Web Site: http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov
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