Minnesota gets failing grade for public disclosure
Posted at 7:22 AM on June 25, 2009
by Tom Scheck
(1 Comments)
A government watchdog group is giving Minnesota a failing grade for having weak public disclosure laws for state lawmakers. The Center for Public Integrity released the report today on where every state stands.
You can read why Minnesota got such poor marks here.
Here's why it matters:
"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. Disclosure laws allow the public "to make a judgment about whether there are conflicts of interest," Boyle said. When states have weak or nonexistent disclosure laws, she added, "the public knows less about an elected official."
The feature examines statements made by Minnesota politicians and checks them for accuracy. Based on data analysis, document reviews and interviews with non-partisan analysts, statements are rated either true, false or inconclusive. PoliGraph is a collaboration between Minnesota Public Radio News and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
More
Looking for ways to ensure your students are doing quality research from credible sources? Sound Learning is a launching point to Minnesota Public Radio's content on the Web.