By Jon Lender
A new national study of integrity in government shows the state slipping from a solid B grade to a lackluster C- since 2012 — but things are so dismal around the rest of the country that Connecticut still ranks third overall out of the 50 states, according to the 2015 State Integrity Investigation by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Center for Public Integrity.
Alaska (C), California (C-) and Connecticut (C-) ranked first, second and third, and were the only states to score higher than D+ in the study that gave 11 states flunking grades based on a series of criteria measuring openness and accountability in government institutions and procedures.
The “data-driven assessment” found that “in state after state, open records laws are laced with exemptions and part-time legislators and agency officials engage in glaring conflicts of interests and cozy relationships with lobbyists. Meanwhile, feckless, understaffed watchdogs struggle to enforce laws as porous as honeycombs.” [Read More]