N.C. Senator Tom Apodaca, who represents Polk, Henderson and Polk counties, is one of 22 state legislators to receive a “Sunshine Award” from the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina.
The biennial award is given to lawmakers who file campaign finance reports revealing important details about who gave them campaign donations and how they spent the money. Democracy North Carolina evaluated the campaign reports of all 170 legislators elected in 2010 to determine award recipients.
This year’s award winners included nine Democrats and 13 Republicans. You can obtain more details about the award and download a list of all recipients at http://www.democracy-nc.org/downloads/SunshineAwardsPR2011.pdf.
Winners of the Sunshine Award filed all of their 2009-2010 campaign finance reports on time in a format accessible to the public; identified the purpose of 99 percent of all expense items over $50; and listed the economic interest or employer information for more than 98 percent of the all individuals giving them more than $50.
The electronic format of campaign finance reports is favored because a backlog in board of elections processing can render paper-based reports virtually inaccessible to the public for years, while electronic reports are quickly and easily accessed.
– article submitted by Katy Munger, Democracy North Carolina