UPDATED: State Sen. Wendy Davis has filed companion legislation to a House bill from two freshman legislators — one on the far right, the other on the far left — that would expand the requirements of the state’s personal financial disclosure form.
Bidness As Usual
With a conflict disclosure system rife with holes, virtually toothless ethics laws often left to the interpretation of the lawmakers they are supposed to regulate, and a Legislature historically unwilling to make itself more transparent, Texans know exceedingly little about who or what influences the people elected to represent them. And they have no way to differentiate between lawmakers motivated entirely by the interests of their constituents and those in it for their own enrichment.
The Texas Tribune’s Bidness As Usual Project — an extensive reporting and data venture that spanned the 2013 legislative session — looked at these lawmakers and the ethics rules that govern them, addressing issues like conflicts of interest and breaches in public accountability.
In addition to dozens of stories analyzing everything from individual lawmakers’ personal interests to the state’s disclosure forms and ethics laws, the project included the Texas Tribune Ethics Explorer.
This interactive tool was designed to educate citizens on the degree to which legislators’ personal interests conflicted with the public interest when passing bills and setting policy. It included extensive research into all 180 members of the Texas Legislature, plus the governor and lieutenant governor, and provided details on a lawmaker’s employment history and financial records, stock holdings, property listings, campaign finance data and ethics investigations. The Explorer was created with the generous support of the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
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Bidness As Usual
Most Legislators Won’t Disclose Tax Returns
The Tribune asked all 180 current members of the Legislature to provide their last three tax returns — and got few takers. Most lawmakers either ignored the request or said they weren’t comfortable with that level of disclosure.
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Bidness As Usual
T-Squared: It’s Only Bidness
Twenty journalists have spent nine months researching the personal financial interests of members of the 83rd Legislature. Eyebrows — and hackles — may be raised, but this kind of transparency is good for Texas.
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Bidness As Usual
News App: Exploring Lawmakers’ Personal Financial Interests
The Lawmaker Explorer is a first-of-its-kind interactive tool that gives Texans a window into the personal interests of their state legislators. It is the linchpin of the Tribune’s Bidness as Usual project, a session-long look at ethics and transparency in the Texas Legislature.
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Bidness As Usual
A Part-Time Legislature, but in Whose Interest?
With a lacking conflict disclosure system, virtually toothless ethics laws and a Legislature historically unwilling to make itself more transparent, Texans know little about who or what influences the people elected to represent them.