Obviously,
this is not good news:
Two southern states — Louisiana and Mississippi — made the biggest strides in the Center for Public Integrity’s latest financial disclosure rankings for state legislators, but 20 out of the 50 states still received a failing grade and three of those states have no disclosure requirements at all.
[...]
Among the states that received failing grades are Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota...
[...]
Virginia, for example, placed 8th in 1999, but has fallen to 31st place, mostly because other states made improvements while Virginia’s ethics laws remained essentially unchanged. Virginia state legislators must fill out a statement of economic interest annually and must disclose outside employment or investment information. But the state lacks the necessary oversight to ensure that the forms are filled out correctly. While other states have made efforts to ensure accuracy, often with the creation of an independent commission, Virginia’s legislators are mostly left to police themselves.
Whose fault is it that Virginia has fallen from 8th to 31st place since 1999? Hmmmm....which party has controlled the House of Delegates since 2000 (and the State Senate for almost all of that period)? Gee, let me think. Oh yeah,
here's the answer. Surprise surprise. ;)
