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March 6, 2009
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Senator Pileggi Introduces Legislation to Require Electronic Filing of Campaign Reports

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9) announced today that he has introduced legislation to require all candidates for statewide office and the General Assembly to file their campaign reports electronically. 

“Electronic filing would make campaign finance information practically available in real time," Senator Pileggi said. “The technology is in place to do this, and there is no good reason that the public should not have access to this information as quickly as possible." 

At least 30 states currently require statewide candidates to file campaign reports electronically. In Pennsylvania, the Department of State permits and encourages candidates to file electronically – but there is no legal requirement that they do so. Some campaign reports are still filed on paper, meaning they cannot be searched in a timely fashion for information about contributions or expenditures. 

Senator Pileggi's legislation would also require monthly reporting for statewide candidates, candidates for the General Assembly, committees for those offices, or political parties that raise or spend more than $50,000 in the previous month. 

"Increasing the frequency of reporting for candidates and political parties raising or spending large amounts of money makes sense," Senator Pileggi said. “The current reporting schedule was adopted decades ago, when political campaigns were much different than they are today." 

The legislation is Senate Bill 576. 

More information about state issues is available at Senator Pileggi's web site, www.senatorpileggi.com.

Contact:

Erik Arneson
(717) 787-4712