48th to 34th but still an “F”
Jul 24th, 2007 by JamieB
No, the headline does not refer to a ride on the New York subway.
It is instead kind of a good news/bad news story. In its latest survey, the Center for Public Integrity ranked Pennsylvania 34th of the 50 states in terms of its financial disclosure laws. That’s a huge leap forward for a state that finished 48th in a survey conducted a few years ago by the Better Government Association.
Despite the apparent progress, both surveys gave the state an overall grade of F. In fact, on the BGA’s final report card, Pennsylvania managed a GPA of 0.1. No, that is not a typo, and it must be some sort of record. In the just-released CPI study, which ranked disclosure requirements for the governor only, our state got a 55. So while the Commonwealth seems to be moving in the right direction, it started way, way back, and it is still a long way from the head of the class.
Still, we aren’t alone. As Kori Walter noted in her his article in the Beaver County Times, “Pennsylvania had plenty of company at the bottom of the rankings. The Keystone State is one of 21 states that received an ‘F’ in the survey.” edit - our apologies to Mr. Walter for misstating his gender, and thanks to Erik Arneson who pointed out our blunder!
Only the state of Washington got an A.
Bob Warner of the Philadelphia Daily News reported, “The most serious shortcomings in the Pennsylvania law, according to the study, permit public officials to identify various investments in stocks and real estate without revealing what the investments are worth.
“The group also faulted Pennsylvania for not requiring the same disclosures from spouses that are required from public officials.”
And Brett Lieberman of the Harrisburg Patriot-News wrote, “State legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, (R-Delaware) called the report a good road map for what other states require and said they hope to make changes as early as the fall to provide better disclosure when they take up revisions to the state’s open records law.”
That’s good news. But there’s more bad news.
Last year, the Center for Public Integrity issued a report on “>“Legislator Personal Financial Disclosure.” Pennsylvania got a score of 56 and ranked 33rd in the nation – both numbers about the same as those in the latest survey. And once again, the state got an F on its report card.
Even worse, on “Lobbyist Spending Disclosure,” we ranked 50th . . . yes, dead last. Pennsylvania’s lobbyists spent just shy of $125 million in 2005, and Harrisburg has two registered lobbyists for every elected legislator.
If this is progress, we could be waiting a long time for meaningful public access. That’s why the public commitment of legislative leaders is so important. . . and why the public needs to keep their feet to the fire on this issue. We have been down this road before, and we are still failing. So I was heartened to hear Senator Pileggi all over the news yesterday, declaring that an improved right-to-know law is the foundation of government reform.
Yes, it is.