LOBBYIST DISCLOSURE LEGISLATION

League of Women Voters of the U.S. Citizen's Right to Know/Citizen Participation Statement of Position in Brief

The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that democratic government depends upon the informed and active participation of its citizens at all levels of government. The League further believes that governmental bodies must protect the citizen's right to know by giving adequate notice of proposed actions, holding open meetings and making public records accessible.

Under this position, LWVPA successfully lobbied for the Lobbyist Disclosure Act of 1998 (Act 93), which substantially improved on past disclosure requirements that were among the weakest in the nation. In 2002, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional because it required registration and disclosure by lobbyists who are also lawyers, a provision which allegedly violated a provision that only the Supreme Court can regulate the practice of law. Because of this ruling Pennsylvania was, until recently, the only state without a law regulating lobbying. That distinction ended in October, 2006 when the Pennsylvania legislature passed and the Governor signed a new lobbyist disclosure law(Act 134 of 2006). The new law is somewhat better than Act 93 with regard to reporting requirements. Also, reports must now be available on the internet. It is deficient in the high threshold level for filing reports and reporting gifts to public officials. It also splits administration and enforcement between several different agencies.

The full text of Act 134 and a summary can be found on the

Lobbying Disclosure page of the Pennsylvania Department of State web site: