State With Most Integrity is New Jersey, Center for Public Integrity Study Shows

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tackled corruption issues during his tenure as U.S. attorney.

WASHINGTON -- A new study named a state known for government scandals and arrests as in the best position to prevent corruption.

The State Integrity Investigation, being released Monday by the Center for Public Integrity, ranked New Jersey first for having procedures in place for a transparent government meant to prevent corruption. The report concludes CPI's in-depth assessment of the 50 states, including a study of the state's procedures to maintain a transparent government and ethics watchdogs. New Jersey is joined at the top of the list by no. 2-ranked Connecticut, which saw former Gov. John Rowland (R) resign amid corruption scandals in 2004.

Gordon Witkin, CPI's managing editor, said the results initially surprised the staff but the formula used by the group helped determine the rankings. "We were surprised by some of the results as much as anyone else," Witkin said. "Keep in mind we're not measuring cases of corruption, but the systems in place to prevent it, and encourage openness and transparency in government."

Under the formula used by CPI, no states received an A grade; New Jersey's received the only B+. Joining the Garden State in the top five are Connecticut, Washington, California and Nebraska. Nineteen states received Cs and 18 received Ds. Eight states -- North Dakota, Michigan, South Carolina, Maine, Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota and Georgia -- received Fs.

Among the criteria used were information access laws, campaign finance, accountability of all three branches of government, state budget transparency, civil service procedures, purchasing, lobbyist disclosure, audits, pension fund management, ethics bodies, insurance regulation and redistricting.

Witkin said the reports did show that the reason some of the smaller states ranked toward the bottom was their political culture, based on many in government knowing each other and the belief that an ethics watchdog is not needed.

In the case of New Jersey, Witkin said a stronger ethics commission and pay-to-play ban enacted in 2005 helped the state's rating. Other aspects cited by CPI included the state's public records access law, along with the state comptroller's office established in 2008.

At the same time, those in New Jersey question if a ranking would allow the state's storied corruption history to go away. In 2009, 45 public officials and contractors statewide were arrested in the state's largest single-day federal corruption arrest.

"You can put safeguards in, but at the end of the day it comes down to having a moral compass," Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop (D), a leader of the state's anti-corruption movement, told HuffPost. "It's not like New Jersey is corruption-free."

CPI criticized New Jersey, citing a need to overhaul the appeal process for records-access denials. New Jersey activists told HuffPost that the other issue is that many of the laws do not apply to local government.

Witkin said that he expects the report to have an impact in the states that ranked lower on the list, but said he believes the small government philosophy will hurt. In North Dakota, the cited small government account as the reason why the state rejected the creation of an ethics commission, a similar argument used in Wyoming.

North Dakota state Rep. Corey Mock (D-Grand Forks), the sponsor of the ill-fated ethics law, told HuffPost that while he understands the argument that his state is almost one large town, there have been several incidents in recent years that he said called for a watchdog. These include one legislator being arrested twice for domestic abuse and another not paying her taxes.

"An ethics commission could have stepped in," Mock said. "That never happened."

New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) who said she's lost count of how many of her colleagues have been arrested in her two decades in office, said whether it's New Jersey or other states, it's more than laws and watchdogs.

"You can say we did a good job in hauling off the bad guys, but you have to wonder what kind of climate produced them all," she said.

Comments

[Act out]

12:45 PM on 05/08/2012

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: “My friend is dead! What can I do?”

The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: “Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.” There is a silence, then a shot is heard.

The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: “OK, now what?“

[glenc128]

10:21 PM on 03/21/2012

mark syzmanski of bayonne nj.is a scumbage he needs to be investgateed,his entire family needs to be investigated,stolen goods and drugs

[glenc128]

02:15 PM on 03/21/2012

REALLY THE GOV'S father lives in the most RACIST TOWN IN N.J. WARETOWN N.J. EXT.69 OCEAN TWP/ALL WHITE DEPT;S.NO COLOR NEED TO APPLY. ALL REPUBLICAN TOWN.IF NOT WHITE,DON'T COME HERE THE UNION JACK FLYIES HERE/THE MOTTO HERE IS IF YOU AIN;T WHITE DON'T MOVE HERE

[jussaying]

10:18 PM on 03/20/2012

Gov. Bob and all his tea bagger friends in ole Virginny are too busy with their battle against women and other social issues to deal with or even think about corruption.....there are just so many hour in a day and one has to set their priorities. Can't have the women getting out of their place and all.

[i3lackops]

11:48 AM on 03/20/2012

As a resident of NJ, i say....What?

[jstrate]

09:17 AM on 03/20/2012

The causal arrow runs from corruption to legislative efforts to control corruption through external controls. External controls--laws and regulations to control corruption--are fine. The question remains on whether or not they are enforced. There's need for a balance between external and internal controls. It's difficult to see how you can prevent overly ambitious and often "ethically challenged" people from running for and winning elective public office and once there, lining their own pockets and those of their relatives, friends, and associates. The voters of Detroit elected Kwame Kilpatrick to be their mayor. The signs were there, but the voters ignored them. Politicians don't come with an ethical "Good Housekeeping" seal of approval.

[StateIntegrity]

12:33 PM on 03/28/2012

Some interesting points here, jstrate. It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of ethics on the personal level, but you may be interested to know that the Investigation looked very closely at the issue of enforcement. If you dig into the report cards for the individual states at stateintegrity.org, you'll notice that most categories examine regulation from both an "in law" and "in practice" standpoint. The states are also scored for the difference between the two--their "Implementation Gap."

Check out the site, take a look at the methodology page, and if you're interested, email the report card to your state officials. We'll be following up with law makers and reporting on any changes.

[jstrate]

09:05 PM on 03/19/2012

There's been a longstanding debate in the field of public sector ethics about the relative value of internal vs. external controls. I'd say the study shows only that where corruption is commonplace there's a greater search for and use of external controls. The latter are costly but likely an absolute necessity in places like Illinois and New Jersey with a lengthy history of corruption. There needs to be a balance. It would be nice if there were some litmus test available to voters and citizens generally to identify ex ante public officials who are ethically challenged or likely to become ethically challenged. Insurance companies use credit scores. Criminal background checks would help--DUIs stand out. Tax returns can be revealing. It's too bad that ethical public officials often get painted with the same brush as the bad apples.

[jjcountrylips]

09:03 PM on 03/19/2012

musta missed Texas where pay to play is the order of the day

[philoec]

06:57 PM on 03/19/2012

No corruption?
Well, isn't romney equal to obama?
2 great flip floppers?
Isn't obama accused of corruption?
Explain that!
Ciao from nj's vocabulary, regarding that statement!

[HoosierInMaryland]

06:50 PM on 03/19/2012

Potential does NOT equal reality.

In other words, New Jersey may have the potential to be the most open government.

But in reality? Not so much.

[BB King]

05:05 PM on 03/19/2012

..."First of all, it's none of your business!" "Shut Up!" I just don't believe this is true! Sorry!

[cazkat44]

04:56 PM on 03/19/2012

New Jersey corrupt free and i have a bridge to sell you ...no government in these United States of America is corrupt free .....try and prove me wrong ....

[al19454]

02:53 PM on 03/19/2012

Any state that has to have policys in place to prevent corruption is corupted already. Duh...

[Gmasters]

02:52 PM on 03/19/2012

I suspect the percentage of corrupt politicians is pretty constant from state to state.
New Jersey just Catches more of it's crooks than other states.
Which is actually consistent with the survey findings. It has more avenues to Expose the crooks, so it finds more of them.
And the state only got a B+. Nobody got an A.

[nothing2fear]

02:47 PM on 03/19/2012

As long as money is allowed to rule the political system in a nation where greed is considered a virtue, corruption will rule the nation, thank you very much SCOTUS.