University of Montana journalism professor Dennis Swibold writes in a nationwide study that even though Montana enjoys a reputation for open government, due in part to such laws and the scrutiny bred by intense political rivalries, “the reality in Big Sky country doesn’t always match the image.” And he says that’s in part because “finding money to boost transparency is a tough sell in light of more basic needs like schools and services for the poor.”
Montana received a letter grade of D+ and a numerical score of 68, ranking it 27th nationwide in a State Integrity Investigation study, which is a collaboration of the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity, and Public Radio International. Its authors are calling the yearlong study it “a first-of-its-kind, data-driven assessment of transparency, accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms in all 50 states.”
No state received an A.
Swibold says in Montana “ethics laws suffer from ambiguity and weak enforcement, and a rash of top-level hires by the current administration has raised questions of cronyism.”
“Partly as a result, access to public records varies by agency and sometimes lags behind advances in information technology,” Swibold writes. “Weak disclosure requirements and inadequate staffing frustrate efforts to monitor lobbying and track the assets of officials responsible for overseeing public funds.
“Ethics laws suffer from ambiguity and weak enforcement, and a rash of top-level hires by the current administration has raised questions of cronyism. Meanwhile, the state’s ban on corporate campaign contributions and its tough disclosure requirements for campaign financing are under legal attack.”
Elsewhere in the story he notes: “The public’s window on lobbying is clouded by weak disclosure rules, enforcement that depends on actual complaints and Montana’s failure to monitor the lobbying of executive-branch departments.”
Five states earned a B: New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, California, and Nebraska. Nineteen states got C’s and 18 received D’s. Eight states earned failing grades of 59 or below from the project.
“State officials make lofty promises when it comes to ethics in government,” Caitlin Ginley writes in her story “50 States and No Winners” that takes a nationwide look. “They tout the transparency of legislative processes, accessibility of records, and the openness of public meetings. But these efforts often fall short of providing any real transparency or legitimate hope of rooting out corruption.”
It may be of little comfort to learn that a state with a D+ did better than its neighbors.
But Idaho got a D- and ranked 40th, Wyoming got an F and ranked 48th, North Dakota got an F and ranked 43 and South Dakota received an F and ranked 49th.
It’s not the kind of report card with a smiley face on it that a kindergartner would hang on the refrigerator for the world to see. Montana got an F in several categories: Public access to information, judicial accountability, state pension fund management, lobbying disclosure and ethics enforcement agencies. It got a D in political financing, a D- in state civil service management, C- in legislative accountability and state budget process. It got a C+ in state insurance commissions and executive accountability, and a B- in procurement.
On the bright side, Montana got A’s for internal auditing and redistricting.
This is the second report within a week that criticized the state on transparency. The Public Interest Research Group gave the state an F last week.
PIRG noted Montana was one of four states that has yet to post an “online checkbook” that would allow the public to review government spending in detail via computer, a Boston-based consumer advocacy group said this week.
But a state official said she knew before she filled out the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) survey that Montana, which got an F last year, would not meet the group’s criteria and get a failing grade. She also noted Montana got a B from the Sunshine Review, another transparency advocacy organization.
In the PIRG report, “Following the Money 2012: How the States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” Montana is ranked second from the bottom of the 50 states for online state transparency.