Group: Miss. government integrity shaky
Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, October 29, 2008
When it comes to government integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group says Mississippi could use a lot of improvement.
Mississippi is listed 39th out of 50 states in the Better Government Association’s study, which ranked states based on government transparency, accountability, whistleblower protections and campaign finance laws.
Jay Stewart, BGA’s executive director, says even though Mississippi beat out 11 states, it still received an F letter grade.
Mississippi’s lowest scores came on campaign finance laws, particularly, the state’s lack of limits on donations. The state also received a low score for its open meetings laws.
New Jersey was graded the best. South Dakota came in last.