The state received a grade of D-minus in a new report on transparency and accountability from the Center for Public Integrity.

Many forces have come to conspire to thwart new reforms and undo existing ones.

The state’s reputation as a vanguard in political ethics is largely dead, producing problems such as the budget impasses and shutdowns we have seen in the last few years, and which again loom larger and larger this year.

A total of 22 legislative candidates and two candidates for constitutional office have failed to file campaign disclosure statements by the required deadline.