A report released this week drew attention to some of the long-standing deficiencies in Vermont’s transparency laws.
The “Integrity Index” is a joint project of the Better Government Association (BGA), a nonpartisan watchdog organization, and an insurance agency called Alper Services. The index evaluates state law in four areas: public records access, open meetings, whistleblower protection and conflict of interest disclosures.
Vermont ranks 43rd, according to the findings. BGA notes that even the higher-ranking states have unimpressive laws on the books.
“The majority of states are failing miserably when it comes to enacting laws that enable regular citizens to fight corruption by attending public meetings, reviewing government documents and raising questions without fear of retribution,” the authors of the report wrote.
BGA and Alper Services conducted research from June 2012 to December 2012; the report doesn’t capture legislative changes approved in 2013.
Vermont ranks rock-bottom for conflict of interest laws because it’s one of three states that doesn’t require elected officials to file financial disclosure forms. The rest of the score depends on how thorough the disclosure reports are and how rigidly they are enforced. Vermont scored zero on a 100-point scale. The state also lacks an ethics enforcement agency. That measure wasn’t factored into the score.
The state’s open meeting laws are middle-of-the-pack, according to the index. Vermont ranks 33rd. The report notes that overall performance was the weakest in this category. Scores are based on how far in advance meetings are posted and what type of information the notices include.
Vermont comes in 10th for whistleblower protection. State statutes cover all state employees and requires that notices of whistleblower rights be posted in public agencies. Vermont also allows whistleblowers to sue for civil damages and remedies.
The state ranks sixth for its public records laws, despite the fact that the regulations are riddled with roughly 200 exemptions. BGA looked at the relative ease of making public records requests and appealing denials, but it didn’t examine the number or scope of exemptions, which can derail public records requests. Vermont scores highly in part because public bodies have to respond to requests within three days, a shorter window of time than in many other states.
Several other transparency assessments have also given the state a sub-par status. The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) has consistently assigned Vermont D’s and F’s for ethics enforcement and public access to information. CPI also assigns states an overall “Integrity Score,” and in this, Vermont actually fares slightly better than in the BGA ratings, ranking 26th.
In Vermont’s recent past, there have been traces of attempts to bolster state accountability.
Secretary of State Jim Condos has been running a traveling seminar on public meetings and public records law called the “Transparency Tour” since 2011, and the Legislature has tightened up loopholes in the public records laws.
This past legislative session, lawmakers made criminal investigation records subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act, which has more force than the state standard previously in place.
But transparency advocates maintain these efforts are minor legislative tweaks. A report by Campaign for Vermont, which recently launched a transparency initiative of its own, notes that despite “repeated and grandiose promises for reform,” Vermont still hasn’t registered “any meaningful change in the overall transparency or accountability of state government.”
The BGA report notes that some of the states with strong laws on the books — Illinois for instance — have been rocked by corruption scandals in the past. It concludes, “There’s little evidence that states approach reform comprehensively or proactively. Instead, they tend to be reactionary, cleaning up selected programs or policies in the aftermath of a political scandal.”
