Like Ricky Bobby said "if you ain't first your last"!

Sorry to inform you but according to a new corruptibility report card from the Center for Public Policy (CPI) Michigan ranks the worst in the nation when it comes to government transparency and accountability, receiving an overall grade of F.

Mlive.com is reporting that CPI measured each state on 250 specific, what they called, “indicators” which were related to ethics enforcement, lobbying disclosure, political financing, legislative accountability and more.

The State Integrity Investigation report by veteran newsman Chad Selweski is quoted in the article stating that Michigan has a "lack of effective disclosure rules for officials in nearly all facets of state government, conflicts of interest and potential public corruption remain buried in an honor system with no honor."

Wow, this surprised me, I had no idea we had these issues in Michigan, if we are to believe this report.

It must me noted though that no states received an overall grade of A in the investigation. The top three states all received an overall grades of C’s.  Those top three states are Alaska, California and Connecticut.

Not many states did well, it is being reported in the Mlive article that Michigan was one of 11 states that received an F in the new report.

Part of the report’s findings is Michigan:

  • does not require lawmakers to file asset disclosure forms,
  • does not require lawmakers to recuse themselves from actions in which they have a conflict of interest and
  • does not have laws specifically prohibiting cronyism or nepotism when hiring legislative staff.

All is not bad, Michigan did earn a:

  • B+ in State Budget Processes ranking 8th in the nation
  • B in Electoral Oversight ranking 5th in the nation
  • C+ in Internal Auditing ranking 32nd in the nation

Click on the corruptibility report card from the Center for Public Integrity and see the rest of the results.

As I said on air today I had no idea we had these types of transparency issues here in Michigan.  I knew there were problems with Freedom Of Information (FOI’s) request in Michigan but not that many other problems.

Well now you are informed.

The Live with Renk show, which airs Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts at (269) 441-9595.

Or please feel free to start a discussion and write your thoughts in the comment section.

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