Finding Out Who Is Paying For What

Sacramento, CA – It will now take just a click to find out who is backing who with regard to political campaigns in the state.

Thursday, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla launched Power Search, a campaign finance search engine. It allows anyone to identify contributions made by corporations, organizations, or individuals from 2001 to the present. Search results can be filtered by criteria such as recipient, date, amount, and location. The information can also be downloaded.

Secretary Padilla says, “Both the public and the press should have quick and easy access to campaign finance information. Power Search is a dynamic tool that will increase transparency and provide the public and the press a clearer view of the flow of campaign dollars.” he adds that the Power Search project was an innovative approach to creating open source technology.

Padilla’s office reports the project’s development was funded with a grant from the James Irvine Foundation, with the goal of providing Californians with access to information critical to democracy. MapLight, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that tracks money’s influence on politics, helped develop the engine with minor and absorbable cost to the state, according to Padilla.

Click here to view the website.