(Paul Theobald, Texas Tribune)
Texas earned a D+ for state integrity, tying with six other states for 27th place, according to a study released Monday by a group of public watchdog agencies.
Texas scored 68 percent, along with Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana and West Virginia.
“This study shows it’s time to unshackle Texas’ ethics watchdog and give it some teeth,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen Texas, a watchdog group.
The national report, compiled by the Center for Public Integrity, Public Radio International and Global Integrity, used local reporters in all 50 states to review the laws and practices related to transparency, accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms.
The report compared laws and practices in individual states against 330 “corruption risk indicators” and applied them to 14 categories of state government that were each graded on a 0-100 scale. (Full story at Texas Tribune)
OTHER HEADLINES:
- Housing Authority Paid Thousands to Employees’ Friends, Relatives, Records Show (Houston Chronicle)
- Study: Only 1 in 5 Texas 8th-Graders Earns Any Degree Within 6 Tears After High School (Austin American Statesman)
- New Law Puts Heat on ‘Doctor Shoppers’ (Houston Chronicle)
- Tour de Houston Riders Hit the Streets For a Cause (Houston Chronicle
- Recycled Water Helps League City Homeowners Go Green (Galveston Daily News)
OPINIONS ON THE NEWS:
- It’s Time To Take a Stand Against TAPPS (Lisa Falkenberg, Houston Chronicle)
Houston is becoming the nations most diverse region yet Texas’ prominent organization for private school competition is barring its doors against Muslim membership, fending off applications from such schools with a gauntlet of offensive questions that seem to mine the depths of negative, backward stereotypes about Islam. - The Banks Win, Again (Editorial, New York Times)
Last Monday, the foreclosure settlement between the big banks, feds and state officials was filed in federal court, and it is now awaiting a judge’s all-but-certain approval. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve announced the much-anticipated results of the latest round of bank stress tests. How did the banks do on both? Pretty well, thank you — and better than homeowners and American taxpayers.