There is not a public official alive that likes to be at the bottom of a 50-state ranking, especially on close-to-home issues such as education, poverty and economic development. Even seemingly arcane rankings of readiness for the Year 2000 date field roll-over or maturity in delivering government services online can raise the ire of people associated with states in the back half of the pack.
What is worse is when there is really no honor in being in the top half of states on measures of open records laws; whistle blower laws; campaign finance laws; open meetings laws; and conflict of interest laws. That is the story that quickly emerges in reviewing state standings on the newly released second edition BGA-Alper Integrity Index that gauges the relative strength of state laws on transparency, accountability and limits in government. The index was created by a non-partisan waste-busting watchdog group -- the Better Government Association -- that has been holding public agencies to account since 1923.
The serial, templatized press releases for the top ranked states indicate that they are to be congratulated for their ranking, even though the best of them only merits a letter grade of "D" on the BGA assessment. It is not a terrific report card, with many states performing well on one or more measures and sucking channel water on the others. Here are the rankings in order (with imbedded links to the cookie cutter press releases on each state):
According to the BGA rankings, South Dakota owes its last place finish to earning only a third of the available points -- ranking 49th in open records laws, 46th in both whistle blower and open meetings laws, 34th in campaign finance laws and 27th in conflict of interest laws. BGA Executive Director Jay Stewart concludes, "If you look at the percentage score, South Dakota received 32%, the equivalent of a F letter grade, hardly a cause for celebration."
In defense of South Dakota particularly, and all states to a certain degree, the BGA index lacks context or more than a single dimension. Sure it looks at five areas of law but it gives no consideration to how states of performing under those laws. Clearly, BGA sees South Dakota's open records laws as the second weakest in the land but the state's Open SD portal is apparently much better than the underlying law, providing a single spot on the Internet where South Dakotans can see how their governments are spending money.
If there is to be a third edition of the BGA-Alper Integrity Index, it would be fascinating to see an assessment of how well - or how poorly - states are executing against the underlying laws.
What is worse is when there is really no honor in being in the top half of states on measures of open records laws; whistle blower laws; campaign finance laws; open meetings laws; and conflict of interest laws. That is the story that quickly emerges in reviewing state standings on the newly released second edition BGA-Alper Integrity Index that gauges the relative strength of state laws on transparency, accountability and limits in government. The index was created by a non-partisan waste-busting watchdog group -- the Better Government Association -- that has been holding public agencies to account since 1923.
The serial, templatized press releases for the top ranked states indicate that they are to be congratulated for their ranking, even though the best of them only merits a letter grade of "D" on the BGA assessment. It is not a terrific report card, with many states performing well on one or more measures and sucking channel water on the others. Here are the rankings in order (with imbedded links to the cookie cutter press releases on each state):
- New Jersey
- Rhode Island
- Hawaii
- Washington
- Louisiana
- Nebraska
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Maryland
- Colorado
- Arizona
- Illinois
- West Virginia
- Connecticut
- Minnesota
- Florida
- Wisconsin
- Kansas
- California
- Massachusetts
- Oklahoma
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Michigan
- Pennsylvania
- Iowa
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Indiana
- South Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Maine
- North Dakota
- Nevada
- New York
- Utah
- Virginia
- Mississippi
- Alaska
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- Delaware
- Idaho
- Wyoming
- Montana
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Vermont
- South Dakota
According to the BGA rankings, South Dakota owes its last place finish to earning only a third of the available points -- ranking 49th in open records laws, 46th in both whistle blower and open meetings laws, 34th in campaign finance laws and 27th in conflict of interest laws. BGA Executive Director Jay Stewart concludes, "If you look at the percentage score, South Dakota received 32%, the equivalent of a F letter grade, hardly a cause for celebration."
In defense of South Dakota particularly, and all states to a certain degree, the BGA index lacks context or more than a single dimension. Sure it looks at five areas of law but it gives no consideration to how states of performing under those laws. Clearly, BGA sees South Dakota's open records laws as the second weakest in the land but the state's Open SD portal is apparently much better than the underlying law, providing a single spot on the Internet where South Dakotans can see how their governments are spending money.
If there is to be a third edition of the BGA-Alper Integrity Index, it would be fascinating to see an assessment of how well - or how poorly - states are executing against the underlying laws.
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