From the Wall Street Journal:
It was about a week ago that House Democrats ran up the white flag on earmarks and begrudgingly agreed to live by their campaign pledges to make pork requests public. It was also about a week ago that Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a sweeping new state transparency law, which will give his taxpayers detailed information about every state expenditure, grant and contract. Mark the difference.
Even as Washington has fiddled on earmarks–delaying, obfuscating and basically doing all it can to avoid enacting real reform–a transparency movement has been sweeping the nation. Angry over Alaskan Bridges to Nowhere, and frustrated by the lack of willpower in the nation’s capital, small-government activists have turned their attention to the states. If ever Washington lagged behind a movement, this is it.