Did YOUR Legislator win 2nd prize in any beauty contests? Find out in their personal financial disclosures.
Texas Tribune has just published their list of Texas Personal Financial Statements: 2009, in which you can search for the personal financial statements of over 3,000 Texas officials and political candidates. Why not look up your representative or senator, your favorite TCEQ commissioner, the governor, perhaps? You will be able to see the source of the paychecks they are bringing home and what investments or gifts they might have which create any impropriety.
All of this is thanks to the Texas Public Information Act, under which they bravely requested all of these disclosures and then went through the arduous task of scanning and uploading them.
EDITOR’S NOTE: What? You thought Texas might provide these types of records in an electronic format to begin with? Or that legislators and candidates would be able to file electronically? Almost makes you wonder why they want this information trapped on paper instead of an easily parse-able format, eh? Cut to scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark with giant warehouse where Indiana Jones is promised “top men” will be looking into the ark… ~~AW
Texas Tribune, Burnt Orange Report and the Hank Gilbert campaign are all already making issues out of information in personal financial statements of former Houston Mayor and Dem gubernatorial nominee Bill White, Governor Perry and Ag Commissioner Todd Staples, respectively.
Texas Tribune doesn’t have the time to sift through all of these, so they’re asking their readers to help them out– check out what you can and if you see something, let us know and let them know.
To save you the trouble, here is the link for Rick Perry’s: http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-personal-financial-statements-2009/?appSession=532163143824315
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