WORD VIRUS: National Institute on Money in State Politics

Investigate Money in State Politics

Money in state politics plays a pivotal role in shaping public policy in individual states and across the nation. We track political donations in all 50 states. Take a look.

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The Corrections Corporation of America: How CCA Abuses Prisoners, Manipulates the Public and Destroys Communities, by Corazon de Tucson
While there are some 50 private prison companies doing business in the U.S., the industry is largely dominated by a few heavy hitters, chief among them the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). This report is based on an examination of public records regarding CCA and focuses in particular on the company’s activities in Arizona. The Institute's state campaign contributions data is cited.

Dialing Up the Dollars: Telecommunication Interests Donated Heavily to NC Lawmakers
In the spring of 2011, North Carolina became became 19th state to restrict local governments from building publicly-owned broadband networks. North Carolina's two biggest cable providers, Time Warner Cable and CenturyLink, along with the North Carolina Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCCTA), aggressively lobbied for the bill and were prominent campaign donors. This report analyzes those contributions.

2012 Data is Rolling In
Campaigns for state offices in 2012 are just beginning to pick up speed. While most states will hold legislative races in 2012, only 21 will hold elections for major statewide office in a presidential election year, and just 11 of those will hold gubernatorial races. Check in with us to see how much has been raised in 2012 to date, and when you can expect data for your state to be rolling in.

Best Practices for Independent Spending: Part Two
This report examines the current state of disclosure for independent spending on state elections and summarizes disclosure systems in 20 states where the Institute examined independent spending data. Best practices for disclosure are also analyzed.

Independent Spending's Role in State Elections, 2005-2010
This report provides a general overview of state-level independent spending in the 20 states where data is both reported and accessible. Institute researchers combed through records to examine the source of the independent funds, what they purchased, and which candidates were most targeted.

Scorecard: Essential Disclosure Requirements for Independent Spending
The Institute identified four essential disclosure requirements for independent spending in the states. See the visual representation of how each of the 50 states scored in each of these requirements.

Independent Spending in the States
How has the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling affected political campaigns in the states? Check out our state-specific analyses on how, or if, independent spending has changed since the court permitted corporations and unions to independently advocate for or against candidates using their general treasury funds. In these reports, Institute researchers identified top spenders, which races were targeted, and how much was spent. In addition, they assessed the quality of the state's independent spending disclosure.
Be sure to check out our latest report, Independent Spending in Minnesota, 2006-2010.

NIMSP 2011 Annual Report
The Institute's full-color annual report is now online, full of lively information about our past year's activities and findings. The numbers alone are guaranteed to raise your eyebrows and expand your mind. Did you know that Institute data and research is cited, on average, nearly twice a day? Or that it requires five servers just to contain the entire database? Take a look!

Lobbying Expenditures
The Institute now offers lobbying expenditure information for California, Louisiana, Maryland, Texas, and Wisconsin. This pilot expenditure database allows the public to see how much money was spent lobbying elected officials.

50-State Assessment of Lobbying Expenditure Data
Operating behind the scenes, lobbyists and their clients leverage great impact on public policy, often under little or no public scrutiny. In its pursuit of more transparent government, the Institute recently completed a thorough assessment of the widely varying regulations, availability, and quality of state lobbying expenditure data in all 50 states. The results of that assessment, as well as a breakdown of common disclosure issues, are listed by state in the full report.
November 2, 2011 Update: New data for Nebraska has been posted.

Best Practices for Independent Spending: Part One
What is independent spending? Organizations and individuals spend millions of dollars every election cycle supporting or opposing candidates and ballot measures-without coordinating or consulting with the candidate or measure committee. Most of the time, a state calls these independent expenditures. In Part One of a two-part review of disclosure of this independent spending in the 50 states, researchers at the National Institute on Money in State Politics reviewed each state's law to define best practices for independent spending disclosure.

Best Practices for State Campaign-Finance Disclosure, 2010
Information collected and held by governmental agencies must be similarly accessible to enable and ensure a strong democracy. To assess the current state of campaign-finance disclosure across the country, the Institute surveyed the 2010 disclosure practices in each of the 50 states. Using the information obtained from the surveys, the Institute then identified best practices for state agencies to employ to best provide campaign-finance data to the public.
Click here to see the surveys of the 2010 disclosure practices in each of the 50 states.

State Surveys: Best Practices for State Campaign-Finance Disclosure, 2010
With over a decade's worth of experience collecting and analyzing state campaign finance data, the Institute is in a unique position to examine campaign-finance disclosure practices across the country. To assess the current state of campaign-finance disclosure at the state level, the Institute surveyed the 2010 disclosure practices in each of the 50 states. Check out your home state, and compare it to others, using this link.

Party Control Map: 2009-2010 Elections
Our Party Control Map gives you a state-level district-by-district visualization that shows party representations after the 2008 and 2010 elections. With a simple click you can also compare the two maps to see how/if party control has changed. It’s an easy and comprehensive way to visualize the political power shift being played out in state legislatures today.