The 10 Most Corrupt State Governments in the United States
A nationwide poll that has recently been conducted rated the various United States
governments on 14 different areas, all of which revolve around honesty,
genuine hard work, and competency. The results have surprised millions
of American citizens.
Those that have been included in this list of the top ten most corrupt state governments in the Unites States share common failures, such as in the category of redistricting, political financing, public access to information, ethics enforcement agencies, and lobbying disclosure.
If you want to know if the state you are living in is considered to be one of the most corrupt and dishonest in the whole of U.S., then here is a rundown:
Alabama, despite being included in this list, is the least
dishonest among all states included, which is why it is at the 10th
spot. In the State Integrity Investigation, the state received a total
of 3 F’s in the following areas: 1) public access to information, 2)
redistricting, and 3) political financing. The state also received a D-
in legislative accountability as well as a D in state pension fund management.
In the State Integrity Investigation, Tennessee received an overall
grade of C. However, the state was graded with an F in the area of
redistricting, a D- in the area of ethics enforcement agencies,
and a C- in both political financing and lobbying disclosure. The
biggest problem that the state is facing is its extremely secretive
redistricting process.
The state of Michigan got 10 F’s in the 14 categories used by the
State Integrity Investigation, and some of these were attributed to
their accountability in all of the three government branches, lobbying,
political financing, and redistricting. Michigan is also one of the
three remaining states that lack rules when it comes to financial disclosures for governors and law makers. According to the report ,
the state still does not have a system that will allow it to monitor
state lobbying – one of the most corrupt areas in the whole United
States.
North Dakota was graded with 8 F’s in the State Integrity
Investigation. Some of these were for the categories: ethics enforcement
agencies, political financing, lobbying disclosure, and redistricting.
According to the investigation, the problems that the state is currently
facing in terms of accountability can result in major conflicts of
interest.
Some of the areas where the state of South Carolina got a grade of F
include judicial, legislative, and executive accountability. The State
Integrity Investigation noted that the State Ethics Commission budget of
the state was cut six times in just the past three years. In addition,
all of the regulations on limiting the contributions made to political
parties have been eliminated, making the state more prone to unnecessary
spending.
Legislative accountability, public access to information, and
lobbying disclosure are some of the areas where the state of Maine
ranked the lowest. According to the State Integrity Investigation,
possible conflicts of interest as well as corruption are in existence.
For example, the state does not have a law that requires Senator Jim
Brannigan to disclose information that the organization he was a
director and was provided with $98 million in government contracts .
There are many ethical areas where the state of Virginia fails to deliver. These include weak consumer protection, lack of government insight, and a hazy
line between large businesses and politicians. In the State Integrity
Investigation, the state received a total of 9 F’s. One of the greatest
drawbacks is that the state is exempted in the State Corporation Commission, which is a regulatory agency responsible for overseeing all types of utilities, railroads, financial institutions ,
and businesses. Even the General Assembly Conflict of Interests Act has
proven to be greatly inefficient. Another weakness of the state is in
its enforcement of disclosure laws.
In the 14 different categories used by the State Integrity
Investigation to score the corruption level of states in the U.S.,
Wyoming received an F in 9 of them. The mechanism being implemented by
the state for self-governance is significantly poor. Also, according to
the report, there are no methods or platforms available for state
employees to report any form of corruption – there are no hot lines nor
websites. In addition, Wyoming has also enforced the same political
machine for some time now. Both of the state’s U.S. Senators have been
republicans since the year 1977. In the year 2006, the state’s primarily
Republican legislature overrode a banning from the governor and
regarded themselves as exempt from the open records laws. This means
that drafted bills as well as all staff communications are allowed to be
kept secret until the proposal of a bill.
South Dakota, while it has one of the lowest population densities in
the whole of the United States, has an extremely corrupt government.
According to Denise Rose’s State Integrity Investigation report, the
state does not have an ethics commission, comprehensive state ethics
laws, and satisfactory transparency laws. It also does not put effort
into requiring public officials, other than its judges, to disclose
information about their assets and income. In addition to this, the
state law also has a loophole that allows individuals to make unlimited
donations to political campaigns. Fortunately, there have been major improvements in the integrity of the state, in the form of online state records.
The first spot on this list of the top ten most corrupt states in the
U.S. is Georgia. The state has the greatest levels of corruption as
well as lack of accountability in the country. The biggest problem that
the state is facing is the absence of a powerful, genuine ethics
enforcement agency. While Sonny Perdue, the Republican governor, was
able to include an ethics bill in the legislature, his proposals
regarding appropriate campaign spending and banishment of giving gifts
to state workers were stripped out. According to Jim Walls, a State
Integrity reporter, even though the state has provisions aimed to
prevent certain types of corruption in campaign lobbying and finance,
Georgia is still plagued by lax enforcement.
Those that have been included in this list of the top ten most corrupt state governments in the Unites States share common failures, such as in the category of redistricting, political financing, public access to information, ethics enforcement agencies, and lobbying disclosure.
If you want to know if the state you are living in is considered to be one of the most corrupt and dishonest in the whole of U.S., then here is a rundown:
10. Alabama
Alabama, despite being included in this list, is the least
dishonest among all states included, which is why it is at the 10th
spot. In the State Integrity Investigation, the state received a total
of 3 F’s in the following areas: 1) public access to information, 2)
redistricting, and 3) political financing. The state also received a D-
in legislative accountability as well as a D in state pension fund management.9. Tennessee
8. Michigan
Via: tour-smart.co.UK
7. North Dakota
6. South Carolina
5. Maine
4. Virginia
3. Wyoming
2. South Dakota
1. Georgia
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