I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Normally a C wouldn’t count as good news. But you take what you can get when the grade comes from the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit dedicated to “original investigative journalism about significant public issues to make institutional power more transparent and accountable.”
The Land of Enchantment scored a 74.5 and ranked 15th, down from 12th in 2006, in the Center’s most recent rankings of states based on how transparent their disclosure laws are when it comes to state lawmakers.
The center’s survey measures each state’s “public access to information on legislators’ employment, investments, personal finances, property holdings, or other activities outside the legislature.”
New Mexico’s score of 74.5 isn’t anything to write home about necessarily, but New Mexico scored better than many other states. In fact, 20 states, including Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota, Idaho, Michigan and Vermont received failing grades.
At least two nearby states did better than New Mexico on the survey. Texas, with a grade of 88, tied with Alaska for fourth. Arizona ranked 6th, earning a score of 85. Colorado, meanwhile, earned a D (score: 63), ranking 28th.
The C obviously means New Mexico still has some work to do, but it also means the Land of Enchantment isn’t bringing up the rear of another national ranking.
Here’s an explainer on what the center looks at and how it came up with its rankings:
The Center has been reporting on disclosure requirements in state legislatures since 1999, and bases its rankings on a 43-question survey that measures public access to information on legislators’ employment, investments, personal finances, property holdings, or other activities outside the legislature. Center researchers obtain answers to the survey questions by examining state statutes and disclosure forms, and interviewing state ethics officers. Survey answers are assigned a numerical value adding up to a possible 100 points; the highest scores reflect the highest degree of disclosure. The Center defines a failing grade as a score of less than 60 points on the survey.
