tecfilingfetcher 0.0.1

A tool for processing raw filing files from the Texas Ethics Commission.

Fetching TEC filing data made easy! Plug in a TEC filing ID, get back contribution or expenditure data in CSV format.

Installation

pip install tecfilingfetcher

How it works

Pretty straightforward:

usage: fetchfiling [-h] [-t {contributions,expenditures}] [-s] filing_id

positional arguments:
  filing_id             TEC filing ID

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -t {contributions,expenditures}, --type {contributions,expenditures}
                        The type of data you want to get
  -s, --simple          Return just the basic fields, good if you just want
                        numbers

Examples

$ fetchfiling -t contributions -s 580604  # Texans for Rick Perry's July Semiannual

..

Unique ID,Entity Code,Last/Organization Name,First Name(s),Title,Suffix,Street Address 1,Street Address 2,City,State,ZIP Code,Date,Amount/In-kind Value,Description,Employer,Principal Occupation/Job Title,Travel Outside Texas (If In-kind)
2,IND,London,Stacy,,,,,Houston,TX,77024,20130617,400.00,,Self,Real Estate,
1,IND,Cantwell,Michael,,,,,Leander,TX,78641,20130617,100.00,,,,
28,IND,Anwar,S. Javaid,Mr. and Mrs.,,,,Midland,TX,79705,20130620,16250.00,(See travel info),Midland Energy,Owner/President,X
2,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,X
3,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,X
4,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,X
3,IND,Jones,Dale,,,,,Coppell,TX,75019,20130624,500.00,,Best Efforts,Best Efforts,
4,IND,Holmes,William,,,,,El Paso,TX,79912,20130624,1000.00,,Best Efforts,Best Efforts,
5,IND,Musil,Stephen,,,,,Cedar Park,TX,78613,20130624,25.00,,,,
6,IND,Vazquez,Laura,,,,,El Paso,TX,79936,20130624,25.00,,,,
7,IND,Lott,Thomas,Mr.,,,,Fulshear,TX,77441,20130624,100.00,,Andarko Petroleum,Geologist,
8,IND,Brunone,Dominick,,,,,The Hills,TX,78738,20130624,25.00,,,,
9,IND,Ciaccio,Michael,,,,,Sugar Land,TX,77496,20130624,10.00,,,,
10,IND,DiLorenzo,Mary,Ms.,,,,Bethpage,NY,11714,20130624,100.00,,Suffolk County National Bank,VP Financial Reporting Manager,
11,IND,Higginbotham,Lou,Ms.,,,,Dallas,TX,75205,20130624,500.00,,Retired,Retired,
12,IND,Baker,James,,,,,San Marcos,TX,78666,20130624,25.00,,Self,Real Estate,
15,IND,Holdren,David,Mr.,,,,San Angelo,TX,76903,20130625,10.00,,Retired,Retired,
14,IND,Pappas,Peter,,,,,Rockbridge,MO,65741,20130625,25.00,,Best Efforts,Best Efforts,
16,IND,Eskridge,Robert,,,,,Round Rock,TX,78681,20130625,100.00,,,,

The filing fetcher outputs to stdout – if you need to save it, direct it into a file.

fetchfiling -t contributions -s 580604 > texans_for_rick_perry_july13.csv

But wait… where do I get those IDs?

The Texas Ethics Commission, via the campaign finance search form. For example, I found Texans for Rick Perry’s filing ID on this page.