Sunlight’s New ‘Fortune 535’ Site Details the Growth of Lawmakers’ Net Worth

May 13, 2008

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202-742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON, DC - Just as members of Congress are filing their latest annual personal disclosure reports, the Sunlight Foundation today launched a new Web site-Fortune 535. This new Web site lets citizens see how much, or how little, lawmakers' wealth has grown in the past 11 years-the period of time from which lawmakers' personal financial data is available.

For the first time ever, lawmakers' net worth from personal financial disclosure filings are compiled and visualized online to show the growth in net worth for each member of Congress from 1995 to 2006. Fortune 535 also lets citizens compare the net worth growth of each lawmaker to that of the average American family, and lists the wealthiest lawmakers, those with the greatest change in their net worth, those who began their congressional careers with no net worth and those whose net worth was less than $0 in 2006.

"Even though popular stereotypes tell us that lawmakers are all millionaires and get more wealthy the longer they serve in Congress, we found that every lawmaker profile is different," said Ellen Miller, co-founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. "The data we reveal should certainly raise questions for citizens and journalists to ask about the rising and declining fortunes of their elected officials."

"Fortune 535" uses data from the Center for Responsive Politics' personal financial disclosure database and archive, which date back to 1995. The site also makes available PDFs of the first personal financial disclosure reports filed by lawmakers (as early as 1978) that were previously only available on paper in the Library of Congress. The project reinforces Sunlight's goal to make more government information publicly accessible on the Internet.

Sunlight's work also highlights the need for more precise reporting of lawmakers' personal finances. Because they are only required to report their assets and liabilities in ranges, the true net worth for lawmakers is not always readily apparent from analyzing the forms they file. The Sunlight Foundation advocates for more precise reporting requirements, full online disclosure and preservation of lawmakers' personal financial disclosure reports. Older personal financial disclosure reports are not available in their paper form from the Clerk of the House, the Secretary of the Senate, or any online database.

"The disclosure system is so flawed that you can't tell whether a member of Congress is a multimillionaire or in debt. Unfortunately, we learned that it is impossible, given the state of congressional personal financial disclosure practices, to calculate the precise net worth of lawmakers," said Ellen Miller.

All numbers on the site are adjusted for inflation and are represented in 2006-dollar values. Lawmakers have until May 15 to file their personal financial disclosure reports for 2007. The Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate will make these publicly available no later than 30 days after May 15. Under the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, the Clerk of the House must create an online database of these reports by August 1, 2008. Senators' reports are not required to be posted online.

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government. Visit SunlightFoundation.com to learn more about Sunlight's projects, including PublicMarkup.org, EarmarkWatch.org and OpenCongress.org.

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