Idaho ranks last again for disclosure

The Center for Public Integrity has come out with its latest ranking of states for their disclosure laws, and once again, Idaho has tied for last place - because it has no personal financial disclosure law at all for its elected officials. Washington, by contrast, ranked second in the nation and earned a grade of “A.” The center found that 14 states have improved their rankings since its last survey in 2006, but Idaho, Michigan and Vermont stayed smack-dab at the bottom, with no personal financial disclosure laws on the books.

Idaho took half a step toward such a law this year - a bipartisan proposal backed by Senate Republican and Democratic leaders and the governor passed the state Senate unanimously. But House Speaker Lawerence Denney never assigned it to a committee for a hearing in the House, so it died. Reporter Jared Hopkins has a story out today in the Times-News on Idaho’s poor showing; Idaho also ranked last in the center’s survey in 1999. Here’s a link to the center’s report .