The financial dealings and corporate connections of politicians are accessible through a recently launched Web site operated by the Center for Public Integrity. The news release describes the tool features and data sources. This aggregation of data on money influences on government expands the still too small pond of information available to business and political researchers. The site collects the contracts, and company profiles and principals for Iran/Afganistan war contractors, and political contributions of the pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. Legal cases that allege prosecutorial misconduct are available.

Personal financial disclosure forms for each state legislator are also collected and made available here.

The Center for Public Integrity’s ‘In Your States’ pages are, without a doubt, the most comprehensive examination of the lobbying practices, ethical boundaries, political connections, and financial underpinnings that define state governments. The Center has analyzed not only those groups attempting to influence state politics, but also those legislators who have connections and interests outside the statehouse. The work we’ve done is methodical. And this new website feature gives a measure of transparency to local politics to help voters make better informed decisions.