US Personal Financial Disclosure for Legislators Resources in United States

US Personal Financial Disclosure for Legislators Resources

Personal financial disclosure laws require public servants to open their books, to a certain extent, for mass inspection. Many elected and appointed office-holders at the local, state and federal level must abide by versions of these provisions, which are different from campaign finance disclosures.

The Center for Ethics in Government has compiled several 50-state-charts on requirements. The charts are listed in the right column.

All but three states – Idaho, Michigan and Vermont – require state legislators to file personal financial disclosures, also called statements of economic interest. Forty-five states require that updates be filed annually. In North Carolina and North Dakota, updates must be filed every election year.

Most states require lawmakers to state their occupation, the sources of their income, the names of corporations in which they hold a position such as director or officer, the addresses of their property, the names of creditors and debtors and names of businesses in which they hold a financial interest. More than 2/3 of states mandate the release of information about each member’s spouse and dependent children.

Thirty-one states require disclosure of any connections filers or their family members have with the state or state subdivision agencies. And 18 states require disclosure of associations with lobbyists.

Amounts for incomes or expenditures are unnecessary in all but 17 states. In these 17 states, filers must disclose an amount or a value range in some cases.

In most states, legislators don’t have to name their clients because such information is considered privileged and revealing it could constitute a breach of a professional ethics code. Fifteen states require client names in certain cases, but most of these allow for exceptions.

Many states require lawmakers to disclose the sources and value of any gifts or honorariums they receive.