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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