States’ Financial Disclosure: As Expected, Florida Ranks Low
by Hanly on Jun.25, 2009, under Politics
Yesterday, the Center for Public Integrity released the results of a survey comparing their legislative financial disclosure requirements. It is a shame that in the recent push for transparency in government, 20 states managed to fail receiving an F rating. I honestly expected Florida to be one of those states, however we managed a D, which is by no means good. The highest ranked state was Louisiana, which is probably due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina, and all of the funding that had to go into the state for recovery efforts. The previous two studies conducted in 1999 and 2006 had Louisiana in 44th place. That’s a great turnaround.
It’s of no surprise that one of the worst ranked states is none other than Michigan. Michigan just seems to be a breeding ground for an economic black hole into which we continue to pump money. In a sea of red Wisconsin stands alone, being ranked higher than Florida. No surprise there. However it’s still in 22nd place (C). I’d honestly like to see Florida become more transparent especially considering the lack of funding we receive in Miami-Dade County considering the exuberant amount we pump into the system. Perhaps transparency would allow the citizens of South Florida to see what our money is being used for, especially since smaller districts in northern Florida seem to get more educational funding than the 4th largest school district in the US. The federal congressional plea to split South Florida into its own state came and went and we were hopping that some change would come, but the system withstands the tides of change. Monies should be disbursed depending on population size.
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