Maryland Corruption Risk Report Card: D-

The recently released State Integrity Investigation, a project of the Center for Public Integrity, found that of all 50 states examined, Maryland is at high risk for corruption, coming in 46th, with a Grade of D-. For more on the report go here.


According to a report on the investigation, here,

"Mayland is the only state in the country that requires an in-person visit to the state capitol to request and view financial disclosure information.

Ed Bender, executive director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics, said that governments may seem transparent by making information available, but it is not always presented in a useable or digestible format. He said trying to compare data within a state -- say, linking campaign donations to state contracts -- can be nearly impossible, and is a huge barrier to transparency.

"It's disingenous, hiding in plain sight," Bender said. "Governments say, 'here it is,' but they don't tell the story."

Maryland unveiled a series of date-centric government performance measurement and spending websites - like StateStat to track spending of stimulus finds - which Governor Martin O'Malley hailed as the "foundation for restoring accountability and for driving our progress." But the state's poor ranking on public access to information -- it came in 46th -- would suggest otherwise.

"They're selective on what they share, how they share it, and who they share it with," said Greg Smith of the nonprofit group Community Research, who said poring through the state's spending databases can be a headache.

Tell us something we don't know.