Even with a grain of salt, a recent report from the Center for Public Integrity casts a shadow on Ohio.
The report, issued earlier this month, looked at 13 categories of laws and practices common to each state. It concluded that state governments, as a whole, are “plagued by conflicts of interests and cozy relationships between lawmakers and lobbyists, while open-records and ethics laws are often toothless and laced with exemptions.”
Some states do better than others when it comes to playing by the rules.
Ohio managed to come out near the top, at sixth, but a closer look suggests the state is doing more wrong than right on the integrity scale.
The state received an overall grade of D-plus, and, perhaps most troubling to government watchdogs, got an F for overall access to public information.
That reinforces something that many have known for years, that providing ready access to public records and complying with public meetings laws are low priorities for too many government offices.
Ohioans deserve more than lip service from politicians who talk transparency when they campaign, but do little to improve it once elected. Lawmakers must stop making more public records off limits and creating loopholes that allow officials to conduct public business in the dark.
