Thursday, July 9, 2009 5:03 PM

Surprise! Louisiana Most Transparent State

Louisiana is the most transparent state of the union when it comes to financial disclosure requirements for legislators, according to a report recently updated by the Center for Public Integrity. Since 1999, the center has been tracking state disclosure requirements, measuring public access to information on legislators' employment, investments, personal finances, property holdings, or other activities outside the legislature.

In its latest results, 20 out of 50 states received a failing grade for their disclosure requirements -- three states: Idaho, Michigan and Vermont, have no personal financial disclosure laws at all. Only three states received an "A": Hawaii, Louisiana and Washington.

Louisiana's top ranking can be credited to Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, who made sweeping ethics reforms soon after assuming office. Jindal signed bills that require all lawmakers to disclose outside financial interests.

"Citizens have a right to expect a certain amount of basic and personal information about their elected officials," said Mary Boyle, vice president for communications for Common Cause, quoted by the center in an article about the  project. "Disclosure laws allow the public "to make a judgment about whether there are conflicts of interest," Boyle added.

After Louisiana, Georgia improved the most since 1999 in its disclosure ranking, catapulting from 33 to seven. Virginia declined the most, starting out at eight and dropping to 31st place -- mostly because its laws have gone unchanged while other states have improved theirs. To learn more about the project, check out the report here.