Editorial from The Cincinnati Enquirer Ohio and Kentucky governments have some work to do to be more accountable to their citizens.
A review of open government, accountability and campaign finance laws found Ohio and Kentucky scored relatively well nationally, ranking sixth and ninth, respectively. But that’s not saying much. Forty-four states got failing grades. Ohio and Kentucky just scored on the upper end of poor. Both states have more to do to limit corruption and ensure state governments are open to the public.
As you’ll read in the report cards below, Ohio scored a D and Kentucky a D+ in the 2015 State Integrity Investigation, an assessment of state government openness and accountability by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. Both Ohio and Kentucky have laws protecting openness and requiring accountability, but they have loopholes. Neither state is good at monitoring to make sure public officials are following the laws, and enforcing the laws if they’re broken.