Grading State Disclosure 2008 Logo Graphic

T e x a s

Honor
Grade
Rank
B
11

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Subcategories
Grade
Rank
Campaign Disclosure Law
B-
21
Electronic Filing Program
A+
1
Disclosure Content Accessibility
A
4
Online Contextual & Technical Usability
C
24

Grading Process green cube Subcategory Weighting green cube Methodology green cube Glossary

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The State of Disclosure in Texas

Texas earned a B and ranked 11th in 2008, up from a B- and 17th in 2007. Texas made strong gains in the Online Contextual and Technical Usability category in 2008, improving from an F and ranking 39th in 2007 to a C and 24th this year.

Texas earned a B- and ranked 21st in the Campaign Disclosure Law category in 2008. Candidates must report detailed information about donors giving more than $50, including occupation and employer data for those who contribute $500 or more. Expenditures over $50 must be itemized, but reports do not include information about subvendor payments or accrued expenditures. Both last-minute contributions and last-minute independent expenditures are disclosed before Election Day. The law contains penalties for violations of campaign disclosure requirements, and these provisions were strengthened in 2007. Texas maintained a top ranking in the electronic filing category in 2008, again earning an A+. Both statewide and legislative candidates who reach a threshold of $20,000 are required to file disclosure reports electronically and can do so through either the software or web-based programs offered by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Texas has earned As in four of the five assessments in the Disclosure Content Accessibility category and ranked in the top five again in 2008. Electronically-filed disclosure reports are available on the Texas Ethics Commission’s web site within two days of receipt. Summary information from paper-filed reports is accessible online, though itemized transactions are not. Electronic reports can be browsed in a PDF format or searched through the site’s database of contributions and expenditures. The database allows site visitors to search across many fields, and search results can be easily sorted online or downloaded for offline analysis. The database could be improved with a field for searching expenditures by purpose since this information is included in the search results. The Texas Ethics Commission does an excellent job of making paper copies of reports available to the public, and charges just $.10 per page.

A much stronger usability test performance pushed Texas up from an F in 2007 to a C in the web site usability category in 2008. In the past, navigating from the state homepage to the disclosure site was extremely difficult (only one usability tester was able to do so in 2007). In 2008, all of the testers located the disclosure site and completed their tasks more quickly than testers did in 2007. Still, half of the testers reported confusion with the site’s terminology and rated their experience on the site unfavorably. The site provides summaries of fundraising and spending for each reporting period going back to 1996, with all committees presented in a single, alphabetical listing; this feature could be more useful by organizing the list by PACs, candidates, and office sought.

Quick Fix: Organize the “Campaign Finance Report Totals” summary pages by office sought rather than alphabetically to allow the public to quickly and easily compare funds between competing candidates.

Editor’s Pick: Simple and advanced search options, and contribution and expenditure search fields, are all integrated into one database search screen. View image

Disclosure Agency: Texas Ethics Commission
Disclosure Web Site:
http://www.ethics.state.tx.us

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First published September 17, 2008
| Last updated September 17 2008
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Campaign Disclosure Project. All rights reserved.