New report ranks FPPC among the best States in campaign finance laws
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2022
For More Information Contact:
Jay Wierenga (916) 322-7761
The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), California’s governmental ethics and campaign disclosure agency, is ranked among the nation’s best in a newly released report ranking all state campaign finance and political ethics agencies.
The Coalition for Integrity (C4I) just released its first-ever, 2022 State Campaign Finance Index, which rates states on factors including strength of campaign finance laws, transparency, and requirements for disclosure in political advertising and campaign finance.
The 2022 Index ranks California (the FPPC) second, slightly behind Washington. The C4I Index gives California a score of 80.95, with Washington at 83.99. The methodology can be found in the full report, linked below.
The Index analyzed the laws of 50 states and the District of Columbia relating to the scope, independence, and powers of state agencies which regulate campaign finance, as well as each state’s laws on campaign coordination, campaign contributions, disclosure of those contributions, requirements for transparency of funding of independent expenditures and political advertisements, and the availability of campaign finance information. The Index focuses on laws pertaining to state executive and legislative races.
“This is just the latest report from C4I and other organizations showing how well Californians are served by the law and our agency,” said FPPC Chair Richard C. Miadich. “It shows how prescient Californians were in 1974 in creating the groundbreaking Political Reform Act and a testament to the dedication of the FPPC Staff who do the painstaking work of making sure everyone is playing by the rules.”
The 2022 Index demonstrates a wide disparity among state campaign finance laws. While Washington, California and Maine finished in the top three, the report found 17 states that finished with a score of 60 or below.
Information provided by the FPPC and other states and the District of Columbia to C4I form the basis of the 2022 Index. It includes FPPC actions taken since previous reports in which the FPPC increased transparency on LLC’s, requiring more information as to who is behind the political spending decisions of an LLC, and also sponsored legislation to require disclosure of the funders of LLCs that participate in political activity.
“Four of these types of studies by non-partisan groups over the past five years have recognized our efforts and success in terms of transparency and accountability,” said Chair Miadich. “Our Commission and staff are always looking for ways to improve, modernize, and use technology to make us more open and efficient to provide Californians a fair and open political process.”
This C4I 2022 Index follows a 2019 rating from the group putting California third highest in the nation in its S.W.A.M.P. Index (States With Anti-Corruption Measures for Public Officials), rating states by the transparency of their ethics agencies. The FPPC received 93 out of 100 points in the S.W.A.M.P. index, based on items such as how many complaints were filed or dismissed, how many found ethics violations with penalties imposed, and if the cases and documents are made available to the public.
Additionally, a 2018 C4I report put California (FPPC) in the top tier of states when ranking the scope and independence of their ethics agencies, including enforcement power.
And a 2021 report from the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center pointed to the FPPC Heat Map as a national model of best practices for transparency.
The Coalition for Integrity is a nonprofit and nonpartisan political watchdog. The entire report can be found here: https://www.coalitionforintegrity.org/state-campaign-finance/
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