Mass. Corruption Risk Rating Leaves Room For Improvement

How would you rate Massachusetts in terms of its risk for public corruption? Does the Bay State do a good job of enforcing campaign finance rules and auditing departments? Or are there too many backroom deals on Beacon Hill and too little access to public records?

The State Integrity Investigation evaluated all 50 states and Massachusetts came in with the 10th highest score, 74 percent, or a C. No states received an A, and only five received a B.

The investigation was conducted by The Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International. They developed more than 300 metrics to measure transparency in 14 categories and calculate each state’s risk of corruption.

Massachusetts scored lowest in areas such as the state budgeting process and access to public records. The investigation did give the state some high marks — particularly in the areas of political financing, transparency of the redistricting process and lobbying regulations.

WBUR is a partner in the survey and reporter Deborah Becker has been looking into the results.

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