6/25/2009

Louisiana Rockets To No. 1 On Financial Disclosure Rankings

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Today, the Center for Public Integrity, or CPI, announced that Louisiana now ranks No. 1 on CPI's latest legislative financial disclosure rankings. Previously, Louisiana ranked 44th on CPI's legislative financial disclosure rankings. Gov. Bobby Jindal worked with the Legislature in 2008 to pass new ethics laws that would move the state from the bottom to the top of the list.

"Just days after coming into office, we set out to fulfill our promise to completely transform the ethics laws in our state to encourage increased business investment and job creation so our children do not have to leave home to pursue their dreams," said Gov. Jindal. "Through a special session of the Legislature, we passed comprehensive ethics reforms that shot our state up from the bottom five to the top five on the Better Government Association's BGA-Alper Integrity Index rankings, and now from 44th in the nation to first place on CPI's legislative financial disclosure rankings.

"Our goal was to make Louisiana a magnet for entrepreneurs, innovators and capitalists. Since we took office, we have won projects that will create more than 32,000 new jobs and total $4.3 billion in new capital investment, and we are not stopping there. Louisiana is on the move, and we are competing to be the best place in the world to raise a family, get a great education and pursue a rewarding career."

When Louisiana ranked 44th in the nation, the state received just 43 points out of 100 points for financial disclosure laws, and with the new ethics standards, Louisiana now receives 94.5 points. CPI said Louisiana's move from 44th to first makes it the most improved state since it began the States of Disclosure project in 1999.

According to CPI, "Louisiana's dramatic jump was rooted in the state's poor performance in 2006, when it was ranked as No. 44, with only 43 points. The disappointing score motivated Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to push a sweeping ethics reform package soon after entering office in January 2008. He signed the bills in the package over a period of several days beginning March 3, 2008, and the new laws took effect this past January. They require all lawmakers to report their outside financial interests - the first time such disclosure has ever been required in Louisiana. As a result of Gov. Jindal's initiative, Louisiana has rocketed to the top of the center's rankings, with 94.5 points, earning the top slot among all 50 states."

To read the full report, visit www.publicintegrity.org.