{"id":99380,"date":"2015-11-10T09:29:54","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T16:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=99380"},"modified":"2015-11-10T09:30:42","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T16:30:42","slug":"only-three-states-score-higher-than-d-in-state-integrity-investigation-11-flunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/11\/only-three-states-score-higher-than-d-in-state-integrity-investigation-11-flunk\/","title":{"rendered":"Only three states score higher than D+ in State Integrity Investigation; 11 flunk"},"content":{"rendered":"

In November 2014,\u00a0Arkansas<\/a>\u00a0voters approved a ballot measure that, among other reforms, barred the state\u2019s elected officials from accepting lobbyists\u2019 gifts. But that hasn\u2019t stopped influence peddlers from continuing to\u00a0provide meals to lawmakers<\/a>\u00a0at the luxurious Capital Hotel or in top Little Rock eateries\u00a0like the Brave New Restaurant; the prohibition does not apply to \u201cfood or drink available at a planned activity to which a specific governmental body is invited,\u201d so lobbyists can buy meals so long as they invite an entire legislative committee.<\/p>\n

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Pictures of Money \/ Creative Commons<\/p>

New Mexico tied for 34th in this year’s State Integrity Investigation. (photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

Such loopholes are a common part of statehouse culture nationwide, according to the 2015\u00a0State Integrity Investigation<\/a>, a data-driven assessment of state government by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. The comprehensive probe 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.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, feckless, understaffed watchdogs struggle to enforce laws as porous as honeycombs.<\/p>\n

Take the\u00a0Missouri<\/a>\u00a0lawmaker who introduced a bill this year \u2014 which\u00a0passed despite a veto by the governor<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 to prohibit cities from banning plastic bags at grocery stores. The state representative cited concern for shoppers, but he also happens to be state director of the Missouri Grocers Association, and is just one of several lawmakers in the state who pushed bills that synced with their private interests.<\/p>\n

Or the lobbyist who, despite a $50 cap on gifts to\u00a0Idaho<\/a>\u00a0state lawmakers,\u00a0spent $2,250<\/a>\u00a0in 2013 to host a state senator and his wife at the annual Governors Cup charity golf tournament in Sun Valley; the prohibition does not apply to such lobbying largess as long as the money is not spent \u201cin return for action\u201d on a particular bill.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Delaware<\/a>, the Public Integrity Commission, which oversees lobbying and ethics laws for the executive branch there, has just two full-time employees. A\u00a02013 report<\/a>\u00a0by a special state prosecutor found that the agency was unable \u201cto undertake any serious inquiry or investigation into potential wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n