Jul 20, 2007 5 min read

By Kori Walter For the Herald-Standard

HARRISBURG – Gov. Ed Rendell must let the public know he collects a paycheck as a commentator on Philadelphia Eagles post-game shows.

But state law does not require the governor to tell you how much he makes from those cable television appearances – or from any of the 22 other sources of direct or indirect income Rendell listed on his financial interest statement filed May 1.

That and other flaws in the state’s financial disclosure laws contributed to Pennsylvania receiving a failing grade in a survey released Thursday by The Center for Public Integrity.

The center, a nonpartisan investigative journalism organization in Washington, D.C., handed out grades based on how much information governors in each state must reveal about their private financial affairs.

Washington was the only state that received an “A” for the amount of public information available about the governor’s outside income, investments and property holdings. Governors in Washington also have to disclose information about their spouse’s income and investments, according to the survey.

Pennsylvania had plenty of company at the bottom of the rankings.

The Keystone State is one of twenty-one states that received an “F” in the survey.

“As the top elected officials in each state, governors sign legislation into law, recommend and approve state budgets, and have wide-ranging powers to appoint department and agency heads and fill board and commission positions,” according to Leah Rush, the center’s states projects director. “Requiring them to disclose their private financial ties could reveal possible conflicts of interest.”

Chuck Ardo, a Rendell spokesman, said Rendell voluntarily releases his federal income tax return, providing plenty of details about his financial interests.

“He does that because he believes in open government,” Ardo said of Rendell, who reportedly receives $15,000 a year for his Eagles post-game show work and donates all of it to charity.

Although the survey focused on governors, all elected officials, members of the governor’s cabinet and some school district administrators must complete a one-page statement of financial interest form annually.

Asked why the state does not pass a law giving the public greater access to financial information, Ardo said that would be a challenge because of vested interests afraid of change.

“I think that the governor believes he is leading by example (in releasing his tax return) and hopes that others would follow,” Ardo said.

Rep. Josh Shapiro, a Montgomery County Democrat who was a co-chairman of a legislative reform panel, said he would support a more detailed financial disclosure form similar to the one members of Congress and other federal officials file.

Those forms require members of Congress to report a range of income from outside sources and investments, not exact dollar amounts.

“I do think that we need to require (state) lawmakers to provide additional information,” Shapiro said. “I think the public has a right to know what companies I may hold assets in and banks where I have accounts.”

Shapiro said the legislative reform panel has recommended that the House Ethics Committee, which in the past rarely held meetings, come up with a code of conduct for members. That code of conduct could require stricter financial disclosure rules, Shapiro said.

But Shapiro and other lawmakers do not favor requiring their spouse’s to reveal their incomes or other financial information.

“I stand very firm that what our spouses or family members do, where they work and what they earn should not be part of the public domain,” said Rep. David Steil, a Bucks County Republican who was also a co-chairman on the legislative reform panel with Shapiro.

Steil said he would have no problem requiring lawmakers to divulge additional details about their financial interests.

But he added the one-page form lawmakers must file contains information that would help the public spot a conflict-of-interest.

“I think the purpose of the form in Pennsylvania is not intended to be a financial disclosure form,” Steil said. “It is an ethics form intended to identify conflict of interests.”

Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Fayette County Democrat and supporter of expanding the state’s open records law, said he supplemented the one-page state form with 12 or 13 pages of information about his finances.

“I list everything that I own,” Mahoney said. “I even list every piece of property that own.”

Listing property holdings is not required under the state’s current ethics law.

“I think if they would want more openness on that type of an issue, I wouldn’t have an issue with that,” Mahoney added. “Maybe you are better off just giving them your previous year’s tax return.”

Eric Epstein, coordinator for the state government watchdog group RockTheCapital.org, said sweeping changes are needed because the financial disclosure forms fail to give the public enough information.

“You have to know what to look for and the onus is more on the person looking up the stuff than the filer,” Epstein said. “The disclosure forms are an antiquated Byzantine system that made sense in Medieval Europe when 90 percent of the population was illiterate.”