Nov 15 2008
Why it’s the Idaho Way
Idaho government ranks 44th.
Boy was this no surprise! And of course it was Larry Wasden to the rescue again, trying to bail water from the sinking canoe.
| October 27, 2008 |
2008 BGA-Alper Integrity Index
The Better Government Association (“BGA”) is proud to release the 2008 BGA-Alper Integrity Index. The Index ranks all fifty states on the strength of their laws relating to transparency, ethics, and accountability in government.
More information, including a full copy of the BGA-Alper Integrity Index is available for download on the BGA’s website at http://www.bettergov.org. In addition the website has state specific press releases.
Originally published in 2002, this updated edition of the Index rates the performance of the states in five areas of law: open records, whistleblower protections, campaign finance, open meetings, and conflicts of interest.
“These laws are representative of a state’s responsiveness to its citizens, and its commitment to maintaining ethics in government,” said BGA Executive Director Jay Stewart. “Just as the fifty states compete to see which one is the most business-friendly, they should also compete over their respective commitment to governmental integrity.”
IDAHO #44 IN BGA-ALPER INTEGRITY INDEX
Today the Better Government Association (“BGA”) released the 2nd edition of the BGA-Alper Integrity Index. The Index ranks all fifty states on the strength of their laws that relate to transparency, accountability and limits in government.
This edition of the BGA-Alper Integrity Index rates the fifty states on their performance across five different laws: open records laws; whistleblower laws; campaign finance laws; open meetings laws; and conflict of interest laws. A full copy of the BGA-Alper Integrity Index is available for free on the BGA’s website at www.bettergov.org.
“The BGA feels that these laws go to the core of responsive and ethical government. Just as the fifty states compete to see which one is the most business friendly or has biggest population they should also compete to see who has the strictest laws in regard to governmental integrity” said BGA Executive Director Jay Stewart.
Idaho ranked 44th among all fifty states overall. By issue area Idaho ranked 24th in open records laws; 9th in whistleblower laws; 29th in campaign finance laws; 44th in open meetings laws; and 48th in conflict of interest laws. With its number 44 overall ranking, Idaho achieved a modest 39% overall score.
“Idaho managed to beat out six other states” said Stewart, “however, there is clearly a lot of room for improvement. If you look at the percentage score, Idaho received 39%, the equivalent of a F letter grade, hardly a cause for celebration.”
The 2nd edition of the BGA-Alper Integrity Index relies on data compiled through 2007. Most of the data was collected by the BGA and the BGA created the scoring system for four of the five laws. The BGA relied on the work of the Center for Public Integrity in regard to conflict of interest laws.
Generally the BGA reviewed the relevant laws in all fifty states and created a scoring system for each law that ran on a 0 to 2 scale with half point increments or a 0 to 4 scale on whole point increments. The better the law the higher the score. For the BGA better was usually defined as lower limits, more transparency and higher penalties. The BGA scored areas of each type of law that were common across all fifty states.
The BGA-Alper Integrity Index is the only tool that attempts to measure the performance of all fifty states across a number of good government laws. As with any analytical tool, it can’t measure every variable that impact on government integrity. However, laws are generally the reference point against which ethical behavior is measured. By rating the quality of the laws we reviewed it at least gives an indication of how important ethics are to each state.
“We hope that legislators and leaders in Idaho will use the Integrity Index as a tool to spur reform and upgrade their laws in regard to transparency, accountability and limits. Better yet, we hope Idaho comes up with a tough new standard that then becomes the measure against which other states will be judged” said Stewart.
The interesting issue is that this lack of attention to citizens is pervasive throughout the state; it’s not just limited to the “Brainless in Boise”.
There’s more to say about the Idaho Way. We’ll keep you posted.
