Louisiana slips in transparency ranking

In a new report called “Following the Money,” the U.S. Public Interest Research Group gives Louisiana a score of 71, or a C. That’s down from a 92, or an A-, last year. The consumer advocacy group scrutinized the extent to which states posted online a range of expenditures and made information easily accessible. Largely to blame for Louisiana’s lower grade were its scores of zero for online data tracking of both economic development tax credits and the public benefits of economic development on its transparency and accountability portal known as LaTrac. Researchers tightened the criteria this year to “reflect rising standards for government transparency,” resulting in declining grades for some states. Michael DiResto, speaking for the state’s Division of Administration, says the latest report overlooks “extensive performance reporting” on LED’s website, including summaries of incentives programs, projections of jobs and economic activity, and performance commitments and performance levels for every active incentive contract related to the Mega-Project Development Fund and Rapid Response Fund. He notes that the Pew Center on the States issued a report last year recognizing Louisiana and 12 other states for their evaluation of economic development incentive programs in online reports. “After being ranked by this same survey in the top five in the nation for financial transparency for the past few years, we disagree with this new flawed ranking, which appears to change criteria and totally overlooks the extensive economic development information Louisiana provides,” he says. To see the report, click here. —Penny Font