Headline from USA Today: Secrecy, corruption and conflicts of interest pervade state governments.
The article is about a massive nationwide project by the Center for Public Integrity on openness, accountability and ethics in state government. An Arkansas anecdote at the top of the USA Today account will be familiar to readers of this blog:
Despite the so-called “ethics amendment” that nominally ended lobbyist wining and dining and legislators, lobbyists are STILL wining and dining legislators, in Arkansas and at out-of-state conventions.
The best grade in the country went to Alaska, with a C. Arkansas got a D overall, but, as the map shows, an F in legislative accountability.
Here’s an explanation of the scoring in 13 categories. David Ramsey, a contributor to the Arkansas Times, worked to compile information for the project in Arkansas.