Prairie State Wire

Illinois received a score of 72 on making key financial information accessible and understandable to the public, according to a new report from Truth in Accounting (TIA), a Chicago-based policy institute.

The state’s score, which ranked 39th among the 50 states, is below the national average of 73.3. Utah received the top score of 85 on the ranking released this week, while Connecticut received the lowest score, 44.

The TIA analysis aims to encourage states to publicize accurate and timely information about their finances. Among the criteria used to calculate the scores are how easily the information is accessible to citizens on the internet, whether the state used an independent auditor to verify the data, whether it’s made public within about three months of the end of the fiscal year and whether the state reports all pension debts in its annual financial report.

Sheila Weinberg, TIA’s founder and CEO

Only 15 states -- Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming -- hire independent auditors to review their annual financial reports, the study found.

TIA stressed that the transparency scores would help citizens evaluate how their states are reporting on their financial health.

“If such information is not available, citizens are at a disadvantage and cannot knowledgeably participate in their government’s financial decisions,” Sheila Weinberg, TIA’s founder and CEO, said in a prepared statement.

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Financial Transparency Rankings

Rank	State	Financial Transparency Score
1	Utah	85
2	Washington	84
3	West Virginia	83
4	Virginia	83
5	South Dakota	83
6	Idaho	82
7	North Dakota	82
8	Alaska	81
9	Georgia	81
10	Indiana	81
11	New Hampshire	81
12	Pennsylvania	81
13	Oregon	81
14	Hawaii	80
15	Iowa	80
16	Maine	80
17	Nevada	80
18	New York	80
19	Mississippi	80
20	Tennessee	79
21	Wyoming	79
22	Arizona	78
23	South Carolina	78
24	Delaware	77
25	Kansas	77
26	Florida	76
27	Maryland	76
28	Kentucky	74
29	Michigan	74
30	Minnesota	74
31	Colorado	74
32	Texas	74
33	Alabama	74
34	Wisconsin	74
35	North Carolina	73
36	Ohio	73
37	Oklahoma	73
38	California	72
39	Illinois	72
40	New Jersey	71
41	Missouri	65
42	Louisiana	62
43	Nebraska	61
44	Rhode Island	55
45	Vermont	53
46	Massachusetts	52
47	Montana	52
48	Arkansas	50
49	New Mexico	50
50	Connecticut	44
	U.S. average	73.3

Source: Truth in Accounting