Barton Introduces Legislation Boosting Campaign Finance Transparency
HARRISBURG - Rep. Jamie Barton (R-Berks/Schuylkill) has introduced legislation to increase campaign finance transparency by requiring campaigns and campaign organization to itemize reimbursements on campaign finance reports.
“People cannot have faith in their government if they do not have faith in the system that elects them,” Barton said. “To put it plainly, we need to shine a light on Pennsylvania’s current campaign finance laws. Donors give to campaigns with the expectation that their funds are going to be used for legitimate campaign expenditures and they deserve to know specifically how that money is being spent.”
Currently, Pennsylvania’s campaign finance law only requires campaign finance reports to list an expense as a reimbursement, without the need to itemize the nature of the reimbursement on the public report. To receive an itemized accounting of reimbursements, should it not be voluntarily provided in the filing, a person must request the itemized list through the Pennsylvania Department of State.
“I come from the business world, and in business, there’s a common practice for submitting an expense report. You gather receipts that you’re to be reimbursed for, you itemize them on a spreadsheet and you submit the form and receipts for reimbursement. It leaves no question about the details of any single expense. So why don’t we require campaigns to do the same thing?
“This issue is not blue or red. It’s not Democrat or Republican. It’s just common sense.”
You can read more about
House Bill 1807 here.
Rep. Jamie Barton
124th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jake Gillespie
717.772.9834
JGillespie@pahousegop.com
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