Posted: | December 7, 2018 03:00 PM |
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From: | Senator Patrick J. Stefano |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Local Government Campaign Finance Transparency |
In the near future, I plan to re-introduce legislation that will provide more transparency with regards to local government campaigns. On the state level all campaign contributions are reported, filed, and made public to the people online in a searchable format. Meanwhile, on a local government level, while contributions are required to be reported, they are often not shared online with the public. My proposed legislation would mandate that the counties, upon receiving contribution reports, would then convey this information to the Department of State to post on their public website for review. I understand that not all counties are equipped to post this information, which is why I propose having those contributions files sent to the Department of State, which already has a system in place, in order to minimize the impact on taxpayers. It is my intention to introduce legislation that will enhance transparency and make information more easily accessible for the citizens of our Commonwealth. The voters of Pennsylvania deserve to know who candidates’ campaigns are funded by on all levels of government. This legislation was formerly Senate Bill 1085 from the 2017-18 Legislative Session and was co-sponsored by Senators Browne, Aument, Bartolotta, Costa, Folmer, and Ward. I sincerely hope that you will consider joining me in co-sponsoring this legislation. If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact Jake Gery in my office at jgery@pasen.gov. |
Introduced as SB549