After last month’s election, the National Institute on Money in State Politics has published scorecards for all fifty states. The group grades states based on disclosure requirements for campaign advertising.
The Montana-based think tank has good news and bad news. The bad news is 24 states got a failing grade when it comes to financial disclosure requirements. The good news is Florida wasn’t one of them. The sunshine state got a B, and managing director Denise Roth Barber says lack of clarity in issue ads is the main thing separating the state from an A grade.
“The way the forms are created in Florida the targets and the positions cannot always be easily identified in the forms,” Barber says.
Last year, Florida received a D because it had no target or position requirements at all. Barber suggests simply creating a new form could clarify both issues.
The study lauds Florida for requiring disclosure of spending on direct and indirect campaign ads. Many of the states with failing grades have lower or even no disclosure requirements when it comes to indirect, or so-called issue advertising.
