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The State of Disclosure in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
ranked 19th and earned a B- in 2008, down
slightly from a B in 2007. However, the state’s grade does not reflect many
improvements made to its online disclosure
program after the close of this year’s
assessment period.
Massachusetts
earned a C- in 2008 for its disclosure law,
which ranked 37th and represents the only
category in which the state did not achieve
a grade in the A or B range. Candidates must
itemize contributions of $50 or more, and
must report the occupation and employer of
donors giving $200 or more. Expenditures
above $50 are reported, though subvendor disclosure
is not required. Independent expenditures must
be disclosed, but neither last-minute independent
expenditures nor last-minute contributions
are reported before Election Day. The state’s
electronic filing program, which is mandatory
for statewide candidates who raise or spend
$50,000 and legislative candidates who raise
$5,000, earned Massachusetts an A+ and a top
ranking in the electronic filing category in
2008.
Massachusetts
earned a B again and ranked 21st in the Disclosure
Content Accessibility category in 2008. The
web site of the Office of Campaign and Political
Finance (OCPF) features electronic reports
filed by candidates. Site visitors can either
browse full reports or take advantage of
the site’s recently
enhanced searchable databases of contributions
and expenditures. After the close of the 2008
assessment period, the OCPF improved the speed,
navigation, and functionality of the online
databases. Site visitors can now search contributions
by donor name, employer, and zip code, or by
date and amount, and expenditures can be searched
by vendor name, date, and amount. Database
search results are presented with helpful information
about the total amount and number of transactions
returned, and the results can be easily sorted
online and downloaded for offline analysis.
While the web site of the OCPF was nicely redesigned
in 2008, the change came after usability testers
had rated the site slightly lower than last year,
which dropped the state from an A- to a B+ in
the web site usability category. The new design
features improved menus for navigating to the
various sections of the site, and a cleaner appearance
overall. The OCPF continues to offer excellent
contextual information to site visitors, including
overviews of total funds raised and spent by
candidates, a detailed explanation of the contents
of the databases, and instructions for accessing
the data. Another user-friendly enhancement made
after the assessment period was to organize disclosure
information by office sought, rather than by
candidate name, making it easier for the public
to research candidates in their own district.
→ Quick
Fix: Allow users to search the
expenditures database by expenditure
purpose, which is listed within search
results.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: The “Electronic
Report Log” lists the most recently
filed reports, allowing the public and
the media to track campaign data as soon
as it becomes available. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: Office of Campaign and Political Finance
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.mass.gov/ocpf
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