and
Georgia
was ranked #1 in business climate in 2013 by Site Selection magazine. http://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2013-11-04/georgia-named-no-1-state-us-business, Published: November 4,
2014.
So
If
you are a corrupt business looking for the best climate, come to Georgia !
Articles below:
America’s Most Corrupt States Center for Public Integrity, by 24/7 Wall St http:// 24/7wallst.com/ Published by Fox Business
1. Georgia
> Overall grade: F (49%)
> Public access to information: F
> Legislative accountability: F
> Political financing: F
> Ethics enforcement agencies: F
Georgia has the worst levels of corruption risk and lack of accountability of any state in the country. The state scored a D or worse in 12 of the 14 categories. The state’s biggest problem is the absence of a strong ethics enforcement agency. Republican governor Sonny Perdue managed to get an ethics bill through the legislature, but by the time it passed, his proposals to ban gifts to state workers and clearly define appropriate campaign spending had been stripped out. According to State Integrity reporter Jim Walls, while Georgia has provisions to prevent certain kinds of corruption in campaign finance and lobbying, the state is full of unaddressed loopholes and lax enforcement. “About 2,000 Georgia officials, including one in five sitting legislators, have failed to pay penalties for filing their disclosures late, or not at all.”
America’s Most Corrupt States
By
Michael B. Sauter, Charles B. Stockdale, Published
March 22, 2012 24/7 Wall St.
Earlier this week, the Center for Public Integrity
released a report detailing the risk of corruption and lack of accountability
in all 50 states. The findings of the report should worry anyone who believes
state governments are transparent and free of corruption. Of course, no state
is without flaws. Unfortunately, nearly every state received a grade that would
give residents cause for concern.The Center for Public Integrity’s report examined issues concerning accountability and ethics in each state government. States were graded on 330 separate metrics, which were grouped into 14 major categories. Overall grades are based on the average grades in the major categories, which included lobbying disclosure, political financing, internal auditing, ethics enforcement agencies and redistricting.
Read the story on 24/7 Wall St.
Most states scored poorly. No state earned an A, and only five states received better than a B+. More than half the states received a D+ or worse. Scored from 1 to 100, eight states earned failing grades of 59 or below from the project.
24/7 Wall St. examined the eight states that received an F and the five states that scored B- or better. A review of the states with the highest and lowest scores illustrates that regular reports on government from citizens, public employees and watchdog groups is essential to encourage state integrity.
According to Randy Barrett, Communications Director for the Center for Public Integrity, one of the most widespread issues throughout these state governments is the lack of public access to information, which, he says, is key to preventing other kinds of corruption and conflicts of interest from occurring. “When you think about it, that’s really the root of transparency. If citizens can’t see into how their state does business and decision-making, that’s the real problem,” Barret said.
States with the worst corruption risk scores lack powerful watchdog agencies. In many states, according to Barrett, the existing groups intended to ensure ethical action by elected officials lack real power. Virginia, which scores among the worst in terms of corruption risk, does not have a statewide ethics commission at all. Barrett suggests that the reason many states have such ineffectual watchdog organizations is that the elected officials they are supposed to be monitoring consistently vote in favor of cutting their funding and restricting their power.
Surprisingly, most of the states that received high marks have big governments with long histories of corruption and political machinery. Connecticut and California fit this description. New Jersey, where it seems former and current officials are indicted every year on ethics charges, received the highest grade in the country. Despite its colorful political past and present, New Jersey received a perfect score in areas such as lobbying disclosure and internal auditing. According to the report, the reason states with historical problems with corruption now have high accountability scores is precisely because of their former offenses. Those past problems led to strict enforcement measures that have kept politicians honest and information readily available.
Many of the states with the worst corruption scores have not had the same public issues with corruption that trigger reform. These states, according to the report, are among the most sparsely populated in the country. Reporters sent to conduct research for the State Integrity Investigation found these smaller populations lead to a relaxed, “everybody-knows-everybody” attitude. This environment leads to a lack of reporting by elected officials, a look-the-other-way approach regarding campaign finance and lobbying, and an underfunding (or nonexistence) of political oversight groups.
Read: America's Most Miserable States
According to Barrett, states with stagnant political environments often encourage corruption. Governments with high levels of corruption tend to have a political party — either the Democrats or Republicans — in power for a long time. The states that have had a “machine” in place for a long time often tend to be the most corrupt. Machines tend to want to protect themselves.
These are America’s most corrupt states. See website below:
Source:http://www.foxbusiness.com/investing/2012/03/22/americas-most-corrupt-states/ By
Michael B. Sauter, Charles B. Stockdale Published March 22, 2012 24/7 Wall St.
Next Article:
Georgia named No. 1 state in U.S. for
business
November 4, 2013
Gov. Nathan Deal announced today that Georgia’s business
climate has been named No. 1 in the nation by Site Selection magazine,
one of the nation’s top economic development trade publications.
“Making Georgia the premier state in the nation for
business has been a strategic goal from day one of my administration,” said
Deal. “We have worked hard to stay ahead of the curve and anticipate business
needs not only today, but in the future. Achieving this national
recognition means we are on the right track and reminds us of the importance of
continuing to strive for excellence in all we do.”
"Georgia is a regular top finisher in our annual
analysis of state business climates, with five Top Ten placements in the last
five years," said Site Selection Editor in Chief Mark Arend.
"Executives at companies investing there regularly point to its many
logistics advantages, cutting-edge workforce training programs, particularly
Quick Start, and proactive economic developers on the state and local levels
who understand the business requirements of today’s capital investors."
The magazine releases its annual rankings each November,
bases its research partially on a survey of corporate real estate executives
and in part by an index of tax burden criteria according to the Tax Foundation
and KPMG's Location Matters analysis and the states' performance in Conway
Data's New Plant Database, which tracks new and expanded business facility
activity.
Georgia has ranked among the top 10 states in Site
Selection’s business climate rankings over the last 10 years, and moves up
from No. 4 last year. The Peach State makes frequent appearances on national
“Top 10” lists for business, including No. 2 in Area Development’s 2013
rankings and No. 8 in CNBC’s annual rankings.
“Our top-ranking business climate would not be possible
without the efforts of our partners across the state who have long worked to
position Georgia as a global economic powerhouse,” said Chris Carr,
commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Rankings like
these serve as a great calling card for site selectors, and then it’s up to us
to follow up and give them deeper insight into our vast resources for
business.”
Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Data
Inc., delivers expansion planning information to 49,000 executives of
fast-growing firms. The senior publication in the development field, Site
Selection is also available via Site Selection Online (www.siteselection.com). The
publication also publishes or co-publishes e-newsletters, including The Site
Selection Dispatch, Life Sciences Report, Aerospace Report and Energy Report;
Site Selection International; The FDI Report; Trust Belt.com and the OnSITE
Travel blog.
Conway Data is an international publishing, consulting
and association management company headquartered in Atlanta. It is also a
fast-growing firm, having more than doubled in size over the past two years.
Conway also owns and manages London-based Red Hot Locations,
organizer of world-wide FDI events; Berlin-based FDI advisory firm Terrain
Consulting; New York-based The PONT Group, a
leading PR and lead-generation firm; economic development education and
research organization the Janus Institute; and manages
the Industrial Asset Management Council and the
forthcoming FDI Association, launching in November 2013.
Source: State of Georgia, Press Release, http://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2013-11-04/georgia-named-no-1-state-us-business by Site Selection magazine
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